I was recently involved in a group discussion regarding the use of network mapping tools a means of exploring the connectivity and linkages for an Angel investor network for clean technologies. I had looked at network mapping in a previous job function – using the tool to identify innovation networks and information flow within large projects. For those not familiar with network mapping, I put a short introduction together here :-
Following the workshop, I was talking with Ethan Roland of Appleseed Permaculture who is involved with ecological design and agriculture. Ethan later asked whether network mapping could be used to analyze the fragility of ecosystems. It’s an interesting question and my response indicated that you should be able to map out the complex system of interactions that occur within an ecosystem and, using the same techniques that I highlight in the presentation, study the dependencies of different parts of the network to disturbances (in this case through human interaction).
I did a little further searching and found a related example in which Prof. David Lavigne of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council had used network mapping to analyze the food web for fish (Cod) in order to better understand the collapse of the North Atlantic Cod fishery. The example is complex but illustrates how network mapping can be used to identify complex systems on a macro level and, having done so, identify some cause and effect scenarios that might otherwise have been overlooked.
Take a look at some of the other visual network maps on the Visual Complexity site – some are truly amazing!
