Ecological interactions are highly diverse even when considering a single species: the species might feed on a first, disperse the seeds of a second, and pollinate a third. Here we extend the group model, a method for identifying broad patterns of interaction across a food web, to networks which contain multiple types of interactions. Using this new method, we ask whether the traditional approach of building a network for each type of interaction (food webs for consumption, pollination webs, seed-dispersal webs, host-parasite webs) can be improved by merging all interaction types in a single network. In particular, we test whether combining different interaction types leads to a better definition of the roles species play in ecological communities. We find that, although having more information necessarily leads to better results, the improvement is only incremental if the linked species remain unchanged. However, including a new interaction type that attaches new species to the network substantially improves performance. This method provides insight into possible implications of merging different types of interactions and allows for the study of coarse-grained structure in any signed network, including ecological interaction webs, gene regulation networks, and social networks.
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