Space (and networks): The wild frontier

This project will focus on the variation of networks across space. More explicitly the idea of trying to delineate networks into discrete patches (ecotrophic zones) by drawing boundaries based on areas of rapid change. Spatial wombling will be used as the edge detection method. This project will have three components.

Developing a spatial boundaries package

The first will be to develop a Julia package that implements the wombling algorithm. This will be submitted the The Journal of Open Science as a software package/manuscript.

Detecting boundaries of networks in the landscape

The second phase will focus on how network boundaries in a landscape compare to other community metrics such as species composition or turnover and will result in a methods/perspectives type piece.

How does the within structure of networks vary?

The third (and arguably most interesting) phase will focus more on structural changes within networks across space and lean heavily on using motifs and graphlet theory.