Communication Network

In ecology, a communication network is the set of organisms and the information channels that link them, forming a topological structure that mediates predator-prey interactions, mating systems, social coordination, and alarm propagation. It is not a metaphorical network but a real one: signals propagate through physical media (air, water, soil), and their reach depends on the acoustic, chemical, or visual properties of the environment and the sensory capacities of receivers. The topology of a communication network — its connectivity, clustering, and path lengths — determines whether information flows globally or fragments into isolated subnetworks. Acoustic habitat loss is a percolation transition in the communication network of a soundscape: when noise exceeds a critical threshold, the network fragments and the ecosystem loses its capacity for coordinated behavior. See Information Topology.