DOI: 10.5061/dryad.22p7r
title: Data from: How habitat-modifying organisms structure the food web of two coastal ecosystems

description: The diversity and structure of ecosystems has been found to depend both on
 trophic interactions in food webs and on other species interactions such
 as habitat modification and mutualism that form non-trophic interaction
 networks. However, quantification of the dependencies between these two
 main interaction networks has remained elusive. In this study, we assessed
 how habitat-modifying organisms affect basic food web properties by
 conducting in-depth empirical investigations of two ecosystems: North
 American temperate fringing marshes and West African tropical seagrass
 meadows. Results reveal that habitat-modifying species, through
 non-trophic facilitation rather than their trophic role, enhance species
 richness across multiple trophic levels, increase the number of
 interactions per species (link density), but decrease the realized
 fraction of all possible links within the food web (connectance). Compared
 to the trophic role of the most highly connected species, we found this
 non-trophic effects to be more important for species richness and of more
 or similar importance for link density and connectance. Our findings
 demonstrate that food webs can be fundamentally shaped by interactions
 outside the trophic network, yet intrinsic to the species participating in
 it. Better integration of non-trophic interactions in food web analyses
 may therefore strongly contribute to their explanatory and predictive
 capacity.
description: Banc d'Arguin -
 MasterfileThis file contains the
 trophic and non-trophic interaction data from all sampling stations (bare,
 colonising and established) at Banc d'Arguin (seagrass
 meadows).BdA_Masterfile.xlsxBanc d'Arguin - Food webs with habitat modification effects by crabs removedThis file contains all matrices from which we removed species dependent on habitat modification by crabs.BdA_HMcrabout.xlsxBanc d'Arguin - Food webs with habitat modification effects by seagrass removedThis file contains matrices from which we removed species dependent on habitat modification by seagrass.BdA_HMseagrassout.xlsxBanc d'Arguin - Food webs with trophic effects by crabs removedThis file contains matrices from which we removed the burrowing crab (Callinectes) and any species and species exclusively feeding on it.BdA_TEcrabout.xlsxBanc d'Arguin - Food webs with trophic effects by seagrass removedThis file contains matrices from which we we removed seagrass (Zostra noltii) and any species exclusively feeding on it.BdA_TEseagrassout.xlsxBanc d'Arguin - Food webs with trophic effects by the most highly connected species removedThis file contains matrices from which we removed the most highly connected species and any species exclusively feeding on it.BdA_HCout.xlsxBanc d'Arguin - Relative effects of habitat modifiers and the most highly connected speciesFile summarising the relative effects of non-trophic facilitation by habitat modifiers and trophic effects by the most highly connected species on food web metrics.BdA_RelEffects.xlsxRhode Island - MasterfileThis file contains the trophic and non-trophic interaction data from all sampling stations (bare, colonising and established) at Rhode Island (salt marshes).RI_Masterfile.xlsxRhode Island - Food webs with habitat modification effects by ribbed mussels removedThis file contains all matrices from which we removed species dependent on habitat modification by ribbed mussels.RI_HMgeukout.xlsxRhode Island - Food webs with habitat modification effects by cordgrass removedThis file contains all matrices from which we removed species dependent on habitat modification by cordgrass.RI_HMspartinaout.xlsxRhode Island - Food webs with trophic effects by ribbed mussels removedThis file contains matrices from which we removed ribbed mussels (Geukensia demissa) and any species and species exclusively feeding on it.RI_TEgeukout.xlsxRhode Island - Food webs with trophic effects by cordgrass removedThis file contains matrices from which we removed cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora) and any species and species exclusively feeding on it.RI_TEspartout.xlsxRhode Island - Food webs with trophic effects by the most highly connected species removedThis file contains matrices from which we removed the most highly connected species and any species exclusively feeding on it.RI_HCout.xlsxRhode Island - Relative effects of habitat modifiers and the most highly connected speciesFile summarising the relative effects of non-trophic facilitation by habitat modifiers and trophic effects by the most highly connected species on food web metrics.RI_RelEffects.xlsx