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Wang X, Fu X, Shi M, Xue C, Yang J, Zhao Z, Li S, Tu T. Multiple interaction networks reveal that Lepidoptera larvae and adults prefer various host plants for diet and pollination. Integr Zool 2024; 19:763-776. [PMID: 37427545 DOI: 10.1111/1749-4877.12745] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/11/2023]
Abstract
Plant-Lepidoptera interactions are often studied using the pollination or herbivore networks only. Lepidoptera species are involved in two types of plant-insect interactions because they are herbivores as larvae and pollinators as adults. The study of entangled networks is critical, since the interaction of different networks can affect the overall network and community stability. Here, we studied the interaction of plants and Lepidoptera on the Yongxing Island, South China Sea. A plant-lepidopteran pollination network and a plant-lepidopteran herbivore network were built by using data from flower-pollinator and leaf-herbivore interactions. We then combined the two networks into a single network. We measured plant composition similarity within each sub-network and across sub-networks for Lepidoptera species. Our findings indicate that the plant-Lepidoptera pollination network and the herbivory network share significant proportions of Lepidoptera but small proportions of plant assemblages. The pollination network had higher nestedness and connectance than the herbivore network. Agrius convolvuli was the most specialized species, while Zizina otis had the highest species strength in the pollination network. Most Lepidoptera species were highly specialized in the herbivore network and their importance positively correlated across the two networks. Furthermore, there was no dietary composition similarity between the two networks for most Lepidoptera species. Our findings highlight the visible structural difference between the pollination and the herbivore networks. Adult Lepidoptera selects different plants for oviposition and feeding, a strategy that may benefit their reproduction and survival by sustaining adequate resources for their two life stages and the diversity of both plants and insects in oceanic island communities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiangping Wang
- Key Laboratory of Plant Resources Conservation and Sustainable Utilization, South China Botanical Garden, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
- South China National Botanical Garden, Guangzhou, China
| | - Xiao Fu
- Ningxia Yunwu Mountain National Natural Reserve, Guyuan, China
| | - Miaomiao Shi
- Key Laboratory of Plant Resources Conservation and Sustainable Utilization, South China Botanical Garden, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
- South China National Botanical Garden, Guangzhou, China
| | - Chunquan Xue
- Guangdong Forestry Survey and Planning Institute, Guangzhou, China
| | - Jiazhi Yang
- Guangdong Forestry Survey and Planning Institute, Guangzhou, China
| | - Zhongtao Zhao
- Key Laboratory of Plant Resources Conservation and Sustainable Utilization, South China Botanical Garden, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
- South China National Botanical Garden, Guangzhou, China
| | - Shijin Li
- Key Laboratory of Plant Resources Conservation and Sustainable Utilization, South China Botanical Garden, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
- South China National Botanical Garden, Guangzhou, China
| | - Tieyao Tu
- Key Laboratory of Plant Resources Conservation and Sustainable Utilization, South China Botanical Garden, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
- South China National Botanical Garden, Guangzhou, China
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2
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Zhu C, Li W, Campos-Arceiz A, Dalsgaard B, Ren P, Wang D, Zhang X, Sun M, Si Q, Kang Y, Ding P, Si X. The reliability of regional ecological knowledge to build local interaction networks: a test using seed-dispersal networks across land-bridge islands. Proc Biol Sci 2023; 290:20231221. [PMID: 37464753 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2023.1221] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2023] [Accepted: 06/21/2023] [Indexed: 07/20/2023] Open
Abstract
Building ecological networks is the fundamental basis of depicting how species in communities interact, but sampling complex interaction networks is extremely labour intensive. Recently, indirect ecological information has been applied to build interaction networks. Here we propose to extend the source of indirect ecological information, and applied regional ecological knowledge to build local interaction networks. Using a high-resolution dataset consisting of 22 locally observed networks with 17 572 seed-dispersal events, we test the reliability of indirectly derived local networks based on regional ecological knowledge (REK) across islands. We found that species richness strongly influenced 'local interaction rewiring' (i.e. the proportion of locally observed interactions among regionally interacting species), and all network properties were biased using REK-based networks. Notably, species richness and local interaction rewiring strongly affected estimations of REK-based network structures. However, locally observed and REK-based networks detected the same trends of how network structure correlates to island area and isolation. These results suggest that we should use REK-based networks cautiously for reflecting actual interaction patterns of local networks, but highlight that REK-based networks have great potential for comparative studies across environmental gradients. The use of indirect regional ecological information may thus advance our understanding of biogeographical patterns of species interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chen Zhu
- MOE Key Laboratory of Biosystems Homeostasis & Protection, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310058, People's Republic of China
| | - Wande Li
- Zhejiang Zhoushan Archipelago Observation and Research Station, Institute of Eco-Chongming, Zhejiang Tiantong Forest Ecosystem National Observation and Research Station, School of Ecological and Environmental Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, People's Republic of China
| | - Ahimsa Campos-Arceiz
- Southeast Asia Biodiversity Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences & Center for Integrative Conservation, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yunnan 666303, People's Republic of China
| | - Bo Dalsgaard
- Section for Molecular Ecology and Evolution, Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Peng Ren
- MOE Key Laboratory of Biosystems Homeostasis & Protection, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310058, People's Republic of China
| | - Duorun Wang
- Zhejiang Zhoushan Archipelago Observation and Research Station, Institute of Eco-Chongming, Zhejiang Tiantong Forest Ecosystem National Observation and Research Station, School of Ecological and Environmental Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, People's Republic of China
| | - Xue Zhang
- MOE Key Laboratory of Biosystems Homeostasis & Protection, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310058, People's Republic of China
| | - Minghao Sun
- MOE Key Laboratory of Biosystems Homeostasis & Protection, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310058, People's Republic of China
| | - Qi Si
- MOE Key Laboratory of Biosystems Homeostasis & Protection, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310058, People's Republic of China
| | - Yi Kang
- Zhejiang Zhoushan Archipelago Observation and Research Station, Institute of Eco-Chongming, Zhejiang Tiantong Forest Ecosystem National Observation and Research Station, School of Ecological and Environmental Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, People's Republic of China
| | - Ping Ding
- MOE Key Laboratory of Biosystems Homeostasis & Protection, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310058, People's Republic of China
| | - Xingfeng Si
- Zhejiang Zhoushan Archipelago Observation and Research Station, Institute of Eco-Chongming, Zhejiang Tiantong Forest Ecosystem National Observation and Research Station, School of Ecological and Environmental Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, People's Republic of China
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3
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Dzekashu FF, Pirk CWW, Yusuf AA, Classen A, Kiatoko N, Steffan‐Dewenter I, Peters MK, Lattorff HMG. Seasonal and elevational changes of plant-pollinator interaction networks in East African mountains. Ecol Evol 2023; 13:e10060. [PMID: 37187966 PMCID: PMC10175727 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.10060] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2022] [Revised: 03/06/2023] [Accepted: 04/22/2023] [Indexed: 05/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Across an elevation gradient, several biotic and abiotic factors influence community assemblages of interacting species leading to a shift in species distribution, functioning, and ultimately topologies of species interaction networks. However, empirical studies of climate-driven seasonal and elevational changes in plant-pollinator networks are rare, particularly in tropical ecosystems. Eastern Afromontane Biodiversity Hotspots in Kenya, East Africa. We recorded plant-bee interactions at 50 study sites between 515 and 2600 m asl for a full year, following all four major seasons in this region. We analysed elevational and seasonal network patterns using generalised additive models (GAMs) and quantified the influence of climate, floral resource availability, and bee diversity on network structures using a multimodel inference framework. We recorded 16,741 interactions among 186 bee and 314 plant species of which a majority involved interactions with honeybees. We found that nestedness and bee species specialisation of plant-bee interaction networks increased with elevation and that the relationships were consistent in the cold-dry and warm-wet seasons respectively. Link rewiring increased in the warm-wet season with elevation but remained indifferent in the cold-dry seasons. Conversely, network modularity and plant species were more specialised at lower elevations during both the cold-dry and warm-wet seasons, with higher values observed during the warm-wet seasons. We found flower and bee species diversity and abundance rather than direct effects of climate variables to best predict modularity, specialisation, and link rewiring in plant-bee-interaction networks. This study highlights changes in network architectures with elevation suggesting a potential sensitivity of plant-bee interactions with climate warming and changes in rainfall patterns along the elevation gradients of the Eastern Afromontane Biodiversity Hotspot.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fairo F. Dzekashu
- International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe)NairobiKenya
- Social Insects Research Group, Department of Zoology and EntomologyUniversity of PretoriaPretoriaSouth Africa
| | - Christian W. W. Pirk
- Social Insects Research Group, Department of Zoology and EntomologyUniversity of PretoriaPretoriaSouth Africa
| | - Abdullahi A. Yusuf
- Social Insects Research Group, Department of Zoology and EntomologyUniversity of PretoriaPretoriaSouth Africa
| | - Alice Classen
- Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, BiocenterUniversity of WürzburgWürzburgGermany
| | - Nkoba Kiatoko
- International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe)NairobiKenya
| | - Ingolf Steffan‐Dewenter
- Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, BiocenterUniversity of WürzburgWürzburgGermany
| | - Marcell K. Peters
- Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, BiocenterUniversity of WürzburgWürzburgGermany
| | - H. Michael G. Lattorff
- International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe)NairobiKenya
- Present address:
Department of ChemistryUniversity of NairobiNairobiKenya
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4
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Mendonça-Santos RG, Antoniazzi R, Camarota F, dos Reis YT, Viana-Junior AB. Scattered trees as crucial elements in maintaining urban diversity: A case study with canopy ants in a biodiversity hotspot. ACTA OECOLOGICA 2023. [DOI: 10.1016/j.actao.2023.103894] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/17/2023]
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5
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Pinheiro RBP, Felix GMF, Lewinsohn TM. Hierarchical compound topology uncovers complex structure of species interaction networks. J Anim Ecol 2022; 91:2248-2260. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.13806] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/2022] [Accepted: 08/23/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Rafael B. P. Pinheiro
- Departamento de Biologia Animal, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas Campinas SP Brazil
| | - Gabriel M. F. Felix
- Graduate Program in Ecology, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas Campinas SP Brazil
| | - Thomas M. Lewinsohn
- Departamento de Biologia Animal, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas Campinas SP Brazil
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6
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Corro EJ, Villalobos F, Lira-Noriega A, Guevara R, Dáttilo W. Current climate and latitude shape the structure of bat-fruit interaction networks throughout the Neotropical region. ECOSCIENCE 2022. [DOI: 10.1080/11956860.2021.2007644] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Erick J. Corro
- Red de Ecoetología, Instituto de Ecología A.C., Xalapa, Mexico
- Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas y Agropecuarias, Universidad Veracruzana, Córdoba, Mexico
| | | | - Andrés Lira-Noriega
- CONACYT Research Fellow, Red de Estudios Moleculares Avanzados, Instituto de Ecología A.C., Xalapa, Mexico
| | - Roger Guevara
- Red de Biología Evolutiva, Instituto de Ecología A.C., Xalapa, Mexico
| | - Wesley Dáttilo
- Red de Ecoetología, Instituto de Ecología A.C., Xalapa, Mexico
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7
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Cruz CP, Luna P, Guevara R, Hinojosa-Díaz IA, Villalobos F, Dáttilo W. Climate and human influence shape the interactive role of the honeybee in pollination networks beyond its native distributional range. Basic Appl Ecol 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.baae.2022.06.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
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8
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Structure and roles in pollination networks between phyllostomid bats and flowers: a systematic review for the Americas. Mamm Biol 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s42991-021-00202-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
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9
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Hutchinson MC, Dobson AP, Pringle RM. Dietary abundance distributions: Dominance and diversity in vertebrate diets. Ecol Lett 2021; 25:992-1008. [PMID: 34967090 DOI: 10.1111/ele.13948] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/14/2021] [Revised: 08/08/2021] [Accepted: 11/23/2021] [Indexed: 01/31/2023]
Abstract
Diet composition is among the most important yet least understood dimensions of animal ecology. Inspired by the study of species abundance distributions (SADs), we tested for generalities in the structure of vertebrate diets by characterising them as dietary abundance distributions (DADs). We compiled data on 1167 population-level diets, representing >500 species from six vertebrate classes, spanning all continents and oceans. DADs near-universally (92.5%) followed a hollow-curve shape, with scant support for other plausible rank-abundance-distribution shapes. This strong generality is inherently related to, yet incompletely explained by, the SADs of available food taxa. By quantifying dietary generalisation as the half-saturation point of the cumulative distribution of dietary abundance (sp50, minimum number of foods required to account for 50% of diet), we found that vertebrate populations are surprisingly specialised: in most populations, fewer than three foods accounted for at least half the diet. Variation in sp50 was strongly associated with consumer type, with carnivores being more specialised than herbivores or omnivores. Other methodological (sampling method and effort, taxonomic resolution), biological (body mass, frugivory) and biogeographic (latitude) factors influenced sp50 to varying degrees. Future challenges include identifying the mechanisms underpinning the hollow-curve DAD, its generality beyond vertebrates, and the biological determinants of dietary generalisation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew C Hutchinson
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, USA.,Institute of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, Universität Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Andrew P Dobson
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, USA
| | - Robert M Pringle
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, USA
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10
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Luna P, Villalobos F, Escobar F, Neves FS, Dáttilo W. Global trends in the trophic specialisation of flower-visitor networks are explained by current and historical climate. Ecol Lett 2021; 25:113-124. [PMID: 34761496 DOI: 10.1111/ele.13910] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2021] [Accepted: 10/15/2021] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Trophic specialisation is known to vary across space, but the environmental factors explaining such variation remain elusive. Here we used a global dataset of flower-visitor networks to evaluate how trophic specialisation varies between latitudinal zones (tropical and temperate) and across elevation gradients, while considering the environmental variation inherent in these spatial gradients. Specifically, we assessed the role of current (i.e., net primary productivity, temperature, and precipitation) and historical (i.e., temperature and precipitation stability) environmental factors in structuring the trophic specialisation of floral visitors. Spatial variations in trophic specialisation were not explained by latitudinal zones or elevation. Moreover, regardless of network location on the spatial gradient, there was a tendency for higher trophic specialisation in sites with high productivity and precipitation, whereas historical temperature stability was related to lower trophic specialisation. We highlight that both energetic constraints in animal foraging imposed by climate and resource availability may drive the global variation in trophic specialisation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pedro Luna
- Red de Ecoetología, Instituto de Ecología A.C., Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico
| | - Fabricio Villalobos
- Red de Biología Evolutiva, Instituto de Ecología A.C., Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico
| | - Federico Escobar
- Red de Ecoetología, Instituto de Ecología A.C., Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico
| | - Frederico S Neves
- Departamento de Genética, Ecologia e Evolução, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Wesley Dáttilo
- Red de Ecoetología, Instituto de Ecología A.C., Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico
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11
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Llaberia-Robledillo M, Balbuena JA, Sarabeev V, Llopis-Belenguer C. Changes in native and introduced host–parasite networks. Biol Invasions 2021. [DOI: 10.1007/s10530-021-02657-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
AbstractIntroduced species can alter the dynamics and structure of a native community. Network analysis provides a tool to study host–parasite interactions that can help to predict the possible impact of biological invasions or other disturbances. In this study, we used weighted bipartite networks to assess differences in the interaction patterns between hosts and helminth parasites of native (Sea of Japan) and invasive (Black Sea and Sea of Azov) populations of Planiliza haematocheilus (Teleostei: Mugilidae). We employed three quantitative network descriptors, connectance, weighted nestedness and modularity, to gain insight into the structure of the host–parasite networks in the native and invaded areas. The role of parasite species in the networks was assessed using the betweenness centrality index. We analyzed networks encompassing the whole helminth community and subsets of species classified by their transmission strategy. The analyses were downscaled to host individual-level to consider intraspecific variation in parasite communities. We found significant differences between networks in the native and invaded areas. The latter presented a higher value of nestedness, which may indicate a co-occurrence between parasite species with many connections in the network and species with fewer interactions within the same individual-host. In addition, modularity was higher in the native area’s networks than those of the invaded area, with subgroups of host individuals that interact more frequently with certain parasite species than with others. Only the networks composed of actively transmitted parasites and ectoparasites did not show significant differences in modularity between the Sea of Azov and the Sea of Japan, which could be due to the introduction of a part of the native community into the invaded environment, with a lower diversity and abundance of species. We show that network analysis provides a valuable tool to illuminate the changes that occur in host–parasite interactions when an invasive species and its parasite community are introduced into a new area.
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12
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Quintero E, Isla J, Jordano P. Methodological overview and data‐merging approaches in the study of plant–frugivore interactions. OIKOS 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/oik.08379] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Jorge Isla
- Estación Biológica de Doñana, CSIC Sevilla Spain
| | - Pedro Jordano
- Estación Biológica de Doñana, CSIC Sevilla Spain
- Dept Biología Vegetal y Ecología, Univ. de Sevilla Sevilla Spain
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13
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Naniwadekar R, Gopal A, Page N, Ghuman S, Ramachandran V, Joshi J. Large frugivores matter more on an island: Insights from island-mainland comparison of plant-frugivore communities. Ecol Evol 2021; 11:1399-1412. [PMID: 33598140 PMCID: PMC7863668 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.7151] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/03/2020] [Revised: 11/20/2020] [Accepted: 12/04/2020] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Endozoochory, a mutualistic interaction between plants and frugivores, is one of the key processes responsible for maintenance of tropical biodiversity. Islands, which have a smaller subset of plants and frugivores when compared with mainland communities, offer an interesting setting to understand the organization of plant-frugivore communities vis-a-vis the mainland sites. We examined the relative influence of functional traits and phylogenetic relationships on the plant-seed disperser interactions on an island and a mainland site. The island site allowed us to investigate the organization of the plant-seed disperser community in the natural absence of key frugivore groups (bulbuls and barbets) of Asian tropics. The endemic Narcondam Hornbill was the most abundant frugivore on the island and played a central role in the community. Species strength of frugivores (a measure of relevance of frugivores for plants) was positively associated with their abundance. Among plants, figs had the highest species strength and played a central role in the community. Island-mainland comparison revealed that the island plant-seed disperser community was more asymmetric, connected, and nested as compared to the mainland community. Neither phylogenetic relationships nor functional traits (after controlling for phylogenetic relationships) were able to explain the patterns of interactions between plants and frugivores on the island or the mainland pointing toward the diffused nature of plant-frugivore interactions. The diffused nature is a likely consequence of plasticity in foraging behavior and trait convergence that contribute to governing the interactions between plants and frugivores. This is one of the few studies to compare the plant-seed disperser communities between a tropical island and mainland and demonstrates key role played by a point-endemic frugivore in seed dispersal on island.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | - Vivek Ramachandran
- National Centre for Biological SciencesTata Institute of Fundamental ResearchBengaluruIndia
| | - Jahnavi Joshi
- CSIR‐Centre for Cellular and Molecular BiologyHyderabadIndia
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14
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Costa A, Romano A, Rosa G, Salvidio S. Weighted individual-resource networks in prey-predator systems: the role of prey availability on the emergence of modular structures. Integr Zool 2021; 17:115-127. [PMID: 33415838 DOI: 10.1111/1749-4877.12520] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Ecological networks, usually depicting interactions among species, have been recently down-scaled to the individual level, permitting description of patterns of inter-individual resource variation that are usually hindered at the species level. Optimal diet theory (ODT) models, applied to prey-predator systems, predict different patterns of nestedness and modularity in the network, depending on the available resources and intra-specific competition. The effect of resource availability on the emergence of networks structures, and ODT framework, has not yet fully been clarified. Here, we analyzed the structural patterns of individual-resource networks in 3 species of Mediterranean salamanders, in relation to changes in prey availability. We used weighted individual-resource network metrics to interpret the observed patterns, according to 3 ODT models. We found significant nestedness recurring in our study system, indicating that both selective and opportunistic individuals occur in the same population. Prey diversity, rather than abundance, was apparently related to inter-individual resource variation and promoted the emergence of significant modularity within all networks. The observed patterns of nestedness and modularity, together with the variation in resource diversity and intra-specific competition, are in agreement with the distinct preferences model of ODT. These findings suggest that in the focal prey-predator systems, individuals were able to perceive changes in prey diversity and to exploit in different ways the variations in composition of available resources, shifting their diet assembly rules accordingly. Our findings also confirm that the use of weighted individual-resource networks, in prey-predator systems, allows to disclose dynamics that are masked at the species or population level.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrea Costa
- Department of Earth, Environment and Life Sciences (DISTAV), University of Genova, Genova, Italy
| | - Antonio Romano
- Italian National Research Council (CNR), Agriculture and Food Sciences Department (IBE), Institute of Bioeconomy - Biology, Roma, RM, Italy
| | - Giacomo Rosa
- Department of Earth, Environment and Life Sciences (DISTAV), University of Genova, Genova, Italy
| | - Sebastiano Salvidio
- Department of Earth, Environment and Life Sciences (DISTAV), University of Genova, Genova, Italy
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15
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Hervías-Parejo S, Tur C, Heleno R, Nogales M, Timóteo S, Traveset A. Species functional traits and abundance as drivers of multiplex ecological networks: first empirical quantification of inter-layer edge weights. Proc Biol Sci 2020; 287:20202127. [PMID: 33234084 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2020.2127] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Many vertebrate species act as both plant pollinators and seed-dispersers, thus interconnecting these processes, particularly on islands. Ecological multilayer networks are a powerful tool to explore interdependencies between processes; however, quantifying the links between species engaging in different types of interactions (i.e. inter-layer edges) remains a great challenge. Here, we empirically measured inter-layer edge weights by quantifying the role of individually marked birds as both pollinators and seed-dispersers of Galápagos plant species over an entire year. Although most species (80%) engaged in both functions, we show that only a small proportion of individuals actually linked the two processes, highlighting the need to further consider intra-specific variability in individuals' functional roles. Furthermore, we found a high variation among species in linking both processes, i.e. some species contribute more than others to the modular organization of the multilayer network. Small and abundant species are particularly important for the cohesion of pollinator seed-dispersal networks, demonstrating the interplay between species traits and neutral processes structuring natural communities.
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Affiliation(s)
- S Hervías-Parejo
- Oceanography and Global Change Department. C/ Miquel Marqués 21, Institut Mediterrani d'Estudis Avançats IMEDEA (CSIC-UIB), E07190-Esporles, Mallorca, Balearic Islands, Spain
| | - C Tur
- Oceanography and Global Change Department. C/ Miquel Marqués 21, Institut Mediterrani d'Estudis Avançats IMEDEA (CSIC-UIB), E07190-Esporles, Mallorca, Balearic Islands, Spain
| | - R Heleno
- Department of Life Sciences, University of Coimbra, Centre for Functional Ecology, Calçada Martim de Freitas, 3000-456 Coimbra, Portugal
| | - M Nogales
- Instituto de Productos Naturales y Agrobiologia (IPNA-CSIC), Island Ecology and Evolution Research Group. C/Astrofísico Fco. Sánchez 3, 38206 La Laguna, Tenerife, Canaries, Spain
| | - S Timóteo
- Department of Life Sciences, University of Coimbra, Centre for Functional Ecology, Calçada Martim de Freitas, 3000-456 Coimbra, Portugal
| | - A Traveset
- Oceanography and Global Change Department. C/ Miquel Marqués 21, Institut Mediterrani d'Estudis Avançats IMEDEA (CSIC-UIB), E07190-Esporles, Mallorca, Balearic Islands, Spain
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Fontúrbel FE, Osorio F, Riffo‐Donoso V, Carvallo GO, Rydin H. Cryptic interactions revisited from ecological networks: Mosses as a key link between trees and hummingbirds. Funct Ecol 2020. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.13691] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Francisco E. Fontúrbel
- Instituto de Biología Facultad de Ciencias Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso Valparaíso Chile
| | | | - Valentina Riffo‐Donoso
- Departamento de Ciencias Ecológicas Facultad de Ciencias Universidad de Chile Santiago Chile
| | - Gastón O. Carvallo
- Instituto de Biología Facultad de Ciencias Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso Valparaíso Chile
| | - Håkan Rydin
- Department of Ecology and Genetics Evolutionary Biology Centre Uppsala University Uppsala Sweden
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17
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Antoniazzi R, García‐Franco J, Janda M, Leponce M, Dáttilo W. Diurnal foraging ant–tree co‐occurrence networks are similar between canopy and understorey in a Neotropical rain forest. Biotropica 2020. [DOI: 10.1111/btp.12773] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Milan Janda
- Laboratorio Nacional de Análisis y Síntesis Ecológica Escuela Nacional de Estudios Superiores Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México Morelia México
| | - Maurice Leponce
- Biodiversity Monitoring & Assessment Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences Brussels Belgium
- Evolutionary Biology & Ecology Université Libre de Bruxelles Brussels Belgium
| | - Wesley Dáttilo
- Red de Ecoetología Instituto de Ecología A.C. Xalapa México
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18
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Measuring and Linking the Missing Part of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Function: The Diversity of Biotic Interactions. DIVERSITY 2020. [DOI: 10.3390/d12030086] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/03/2023]
Abstract
Biotic interactions are part of all ecosystem attributes and play an important role in the structure and stability of biological communities. In this study, we give a brief account of how the threads of biotic interactions are linked and how we can measure such complexity by focusing on mutualistic interactions. We start by explaining that although biotic interactions are fundamental ecological processes, they are also a component of biodiversity with a clear α, β and γ diversity structure which can be measured and used to explain how biotic interactions vary over time and space. Specifically, we explain how to estimate the α-diversity by measuring the properties of species interaction networks. We also untangle the components of the β-diversity and how it can be used to make pairwise comparisons between networks. Moreover, we move forward to explain how local ecological networks are a subset of a regional pool of species and potential interactions, γ-diversity, and how this approach allows assessing the spatial and temporal dynamics of ecological networks. Finally, we propose a new framework for studying interactions and the biodiversity–ecosystem function relationship by identifying the unique and common interactions of local networks over space, time or both together.
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19
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Novella-Fernandez R, Rodrigo A, Arnan X, Bosch J. Interaction strength in plant-pollinator networks: Are we using the right measure? PLoS One 2019; 14:e0225930. [PMID: 31830077 PMCID: PMC6907754 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0225930] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/27/2019] [Accepted: 11/15/2019] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Understanding how ecological networks are assembled is important because network structure reflects ecosystem functioning and stability. Quantitative network analysis incorporates measures of interaction strength as an estimate of the magnitude of the effect of interaction partners on one another. Most plant-pollinator network studies use frequency of interaction between individual pollinators and individual plants (encounter) as a surrogate of interaction strength. However, the number of flowers visited per encounter may strongly vary among pollinator and plant species, and therefore not all encounters are quantitatively equivalent. We sampled plant-pollinator interactions in a Mediterranean scrubland and tested whether using a measure of interaction strength based on the number of flowers visited resulted in changes in species (species strength, interaction species asymmetry, specialization) and network descriptors (nestedness, H2', interaction evenness, plant generality, pollinator generality) compared to the encounter-based measure. Several species (including some of the most abundant ones) showed important changes in species descriptors, notably in specialization. These changes were especially important in plant species with large floral displays, which became less specialized with the visit-based measure of interaction strength. At the network level we found significant changes in all properties analysed. With the encounter-based approach plant generality was much higher than pollinator generality (high specialization asymmetry between trophic levels). However, with the visit-based approach plant generality was greatly reduced so that plants and pollinators had similar levels of generalization. Interaction evenness also decreased strongly with the visit-based approach. We conclude that accounting for the number of flowers visited per encounter provides a more ecologically relevant measure of interaction strength. Our results have important implications for the stability of pollination networks and the evolution of plant-pollinator interactions. The use of a visit-based approach is especially important in studies relating interaction network structure and ecosystem function (pollination and/or exploitation of floral resources).
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Anselm Rodrigo
- Universitat Autònoma Barcelona, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Catalunya, Spain
- CREAF, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Catalunya, Spain
| | | | - Jordi Bosch
- CREAF, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Catalunya, Spain
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Insights into the assembly rules of a continent-wide multilayer network. Nat Ecol Evol 2019; 3:1525-1532. [PMID: 31611677 DOI: 10.1038/s41559-019-1002-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/29/2018] [Accepted: 09/12/2019] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
How are ecological systems assembled? Identifying common structural patterns within complex networks of interacting species has been a major challenge in ecology, but researchers have focused primarily on single interaction types aggregating in space or time. Here, we shed light on the assembly rules of a multilayer network formed by frugivory and nectarivory interactions between bats and plants in the Neotropics. By harnessing a conceptual framework known as the integrative hypothesis of specialization, our results suggest that phylogenetic constraints separate species into different layers and shape the network's modules. Then, the network shifts to a nested structure within its modules where interactions are mainly structured by geographic co-occurrence. Finally, organismal traits related to consuming fruits or nectar determine which bat species are central or peripheral to the network. Our results provide insights into how different processes contribute to the assemblage of ecological systems at different levels of organization, resulting in a compound network topology.
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Correia M, Rodríguez-Echeverría S, Timóteo S, Freitas H, Heleno R. Integrating plant species contribution to mycorrhizal and seed dispersal mutualistic networks. Biol Lett 2019; 15:20180770. [PMID: 31039725 PMCID: PMC6548724 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2018.0770] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/07/2018] [Accepted: 04/08/2019] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Mutualistic interactions like those established between plants and mycorrhizal fungi or seed dispersers are key drivers of plant population dynamics and ecosystem functioning; however, these interactions have rarely been explored together. We assembled a tripartite fungi-plant-disperser network in the Gorongosa National Park-Mozambique, to test (1) if diversity and importance of plant mutualists above- and belowground are correlated, and (2) whether biotically and abiotically dispersed plants are associated with distinct arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF). We quantified seed dispersal by animals for 1 year and characterized the AMF of 26 common plant species. Sixteen plant species were dispersed by 15 animals and colonized by 48 AMF virtual taxa (VT), while the remaining 10 plant species were not dispersed by animals and associated with 34 AMF VT. We found no evidence for a correlation between the number of plant partners above- and belowground or on plant specialization on both types of partners. We also found no evidence for differentiation of AMF communities between biotically and abiotically dispersed plants. Our results suggest that the establishment of plant interactions with seed dispersers and mycorrhizal fungi is largely independent and that both biotically and abiotically dispersed plants seem to associate with similar communities of AMF.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marta Correia
- Department of Life Sciences, Centre for Functional Ecology, University of Coimbra, Calçada Martim de Freitas, Portugal
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