An algorithm for calculation of degree distribution and detection of network type: with application in food webs

Publication Type  Journal Article
Year of Publication  2011
Authors  WenJun Zhang, ChenYuan Zhan
Journal Title  Network Biology
Volume  1
Issue  3-4
Pages  159-170
Journal Date  12/2011
Short Title  An algorithm for calculation of degree distribution and detection of network type: with application in food webs
Publisher  International Academy of Ecology and Environmental Sciences
ISSN Number  2220-8879
Key Words  network; food web; type; degree distribution; aggregation indices; entropy; algorithm; Java.
Abstract  

In present study a Java algorithm to calculate degree distribution and detect network type was presented. Some indices, e.g., aggregation index, coefficient of variation, skewness, etc., were first suggested for detecting network type. Network types of some food webs reported in Interaction Web Database were determined using the algorithm. The results showed that the degree of most food webs was power law or exponentially distributed and they were complex networks. Different from classical distribution patterns (bionomial distribution, Poisson distribution, and power law distribution, etc.), both network type and network complexity can be calculated and compared using the indices above. We suggest that they should be used in the network analysis. In addition, we defined E, E=s2-u, where u and s2 is mean and variance of degree respectively, as the entropy of network. A more complex network has the larger entropy. If E is not greater than 0, the network is a random network and, it is a complex network if E is greater than 0.

URL  http://www.iaees.org/publications/journals/nb/articles/2011-1(3-4)/an-algorithm-for-calculation-of-degree-distribution.pdf
DOI  DOI 10.0000/issn-2220-8879-networkbiology-2011-v1-0016
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