mangal - making ecological network analysis simple

Abstract

The study of ecological networks is severely limited by (i) the difficulty to access data, (ii) the lack of a standardized way to link meta-data with interactions, and (iii) the disparity of formats in which ecological networks themselves are represented. To overcome these limitations, we conceived a data specification for ecological networks. We implemented a database respecting this standard, and released a R package (rmangal) allowing users to programmatically access, curate, and deposit data on ecological interactions. In this article, we show how these tools, in conjunctions with other frameworks for the programmatic manipulation of open ecological data, streamlines the analysis process, and improves eplicability and reproducibility of ecological networks studies.