Mapping microbial symbiont impacts using ecological networks

Journal article : Review

Microbial symbionts can dramatically reshape host biology, triggering cascading effects that alter the strength, direction, or even presence of interactions among macroorganisms. However, integrating microbes into community-level understanding remains a major ecological challenge. Using insect-facultative symbiont systems as a model, we show how ecological network analyses can reveal these hidden layers of complexity for a deeper, mechanistic understanding of community functioning. By combining testable hypotheses with tools such as multilayer networks or stochastic coextinction models and interaction rewiring, we provide a road map for uncovering how symbionts drive ecological and evolutionary dynamics, opening new possibilities for empirical studies that link microbial traits to ecosystem-level impacts.

Authors: Morente, M; Hackett, TD; McLean, AHC

• Publication status: In press
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Cell Press
• Journal: Trends in Ecology & Evolution
• Publication date: 2026-03-17
• Acceptance date: 2026-01-09
• DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2026.01.003
• EISSN: 1872-8383
• ISSN: 0169-5347
• Pmid: 41846187
• Language: English
• Keywords: insect communities; host–symbiont interactions; facultative symbionts; indirect effects; multilayer networks
• Subtype: Review