Revista Chilena de Historia Natural 86 (1): 15-20, 2013
FORUM
Bidimensional transfer of effects among organisms: An overlooked concept
in community ecology
Although geneticists and population ecologist have considered in their
explanations the importance of both horizontal –interspecific– and vertical –intraspecific– paths for the flow of information,
energy or matter among organisms, community ecology and particularly network ecology have been strongly biased
towards considering only horizontal effects. In this article our aim is to put on view of ecologists the concepts of vertical and
horizontal transfer of disturbance effects in communities, and discuss the relevance of the interplay between both processes
for ecological research. We support that incorporating this view into community ecology could be a promising new research
avenue, and may improve our understanding about the responses of communities to natural and anthropogenic
disturbances.
Key words:
ecological networks, ecological interactions, food webs, horizontal effects, vertical effects.
