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Sandor ME, Elphick CS, Tingley MW. Extinction of biotic interactions due to habitat loss could accelerate the current biodiversity crisis. ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS : A PUBLICATION OF THE ECOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2022; 32:e2608. [PMID: 35366031 DOI: 10.1002/eap.2608] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/09/2021] [Revised: 11/29/2021] [Accepted: 12/21/2021] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Habitat loss disrupts species interactions through local extinctions, potentially orphaning species that depend on interacting partners, via mutualisms or commensalisms, and increasing secondary extinction risk. Orphaned species may become functionally or secondarily extinct, increasing the severity of the current biodiversity crisis. While habitat destruction is a major cause of biodiversity loss, the number of secondary extinctions is largely unknown. We investigate the relationship between habitat loss, orphaned species, and bipartite network properties. Using a real seed dispersal network, we simulate habitat loss to estimate the rate at which species are orphaned. To be able to draw general conclusions, we also simulate habitat loss in synthetic networks to quantify how changes in network properties affect orphan rates across broader parameter space. Both real and synthetic network simulations show that even small amounts of habitat loss can cause up to 10% of species to be orphaned. More area loss, less connected networks, and a greater disparity in the species richness of the network's trophic levels generally result in more orphaned species. As habitat is lost to land-use conversion and climate change, more orphaned species increase the loss of community-level and ecosystem functions. However, the potential severity of repercussions ranges from minimal (no species orphaned) to catastrophic (up to 60% of species within a network orphaned). Severity of repercussions also depends on how much the interaction richness and intactness of the community affects the degree of redundancy within networks. Orphaned species could add substantially to the loss of ecosystem function and secondary extinction worldwide.
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Affiliation(s)
- Manette E Sandor
- Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut, USA
- Northern Arizona University, Landscape Conservation Initiative, Flagstaff, Arizona, USA
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Biology, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA
- Center for Biodiversity and Conservation, American Museum of Natural History, New York, New York, USA
| | - Chris S Elphick
- Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut, USA
| | - Morgan W Tingley
- Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut, USA
- Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA
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2
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Parra SA, Thébault E, Fontaine C, Dakos V. Interaction fidelity is less common than expected in plant-pollinator communities. J Anim Ecol 2022; 91:1842-1854. [PMID: 35704282 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.13762] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2021] [Accepted: 05/31/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Pairs of plants and pollinators species sometimes consistently interact throughout time and across space. Such consistency can be interpreted as a sign of interaction fidelity, that is a consistent interaction between two species when they co-occur in the same place. But how common interaction fidelity is and what determines interaction fidelity in plant-pollinator communities remain open questions. We aim to assess how frequent is interaction fidelity between plants and their pollinators and what drives interaction fidelity across plant-pollinator communities. Using a dataset of 141 networks around the world, we quantify whether the interaction between pairs of plant and pollinator species happens more ('interaction fidelity') or less ('interaction avoidance') often than expected by chance given the structure of the networks in which they co-occur. We also explore the relationship between interaction fidelity and species' degree (i.e. number of interactions), and the taxonomy of the species involved in the interaction. Our findings reveal that most plant-pollinator interactions do not differ from random expectations, in other words show neither fidelity nor avoidance. Out of the total 44,814 co-occurring species pairs we found 7,877 unique pair interactions (18%). Only 551 (7%) of the 7,877 plant-pollinator interactions did show significant interaction fidelity, meaning that these pairs interact in a consistent and non-random way across networks. We also find that 39 (0.09%) out of 44,814 plant-pollinator pairs showed significant interaction avoidance. Our results suggest that interactions involving specialist species have a high probability to show interaction fidelity and a low probability of interaction avoidance. In addition, we find that particular associations between plant and insect orders, as for example interactions between Hymenoptera and Fabales, showed high fidelity and low avoidance. Although niche and neutral processes simultaneously influence patterns of interaction in ecological communities, our findings suggest that it is rather neutral processes that are shaping the patterns of interactions in plant-pollinator networks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Santiago A Parra
- Institut d'Ecologie et des Sciences de l'Environnement de Paris (iEES Paris), Sorbonne Université, Paris Cedex 05, France
| | - Elisa Thébault
- Institut d'Ecologie et des Sciences de l'Environnement de Paris (iEES Paris), Sorbonne Université, Paris Cedex 05, France
| | - Colin Fontaine
- Centre d'Ecologie et des Sciences de la Conservation (CESCO), CNRS, Sorbonne Université, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France
| | - Vasilis Dakos
- Institut d'Ecologie et des Sciences de l'Environnement de Paris (iEES Paris), Sorbonne Université, Paris Cedex 05, France.,Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution de Montpellier (ISEM), Université de Montpellier, Montpellier Cedex 05, France
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Gaüzère P, O'Connor L, Botella C, Poggiato G, Münkemüller T, Pollock LJ, Brose U, Maiorano L, Harfoot M, Thuiller W. The diversity of biotic interactions complements functional and phylogenetic facets of biodiversity. Curr Biol 2022; 32:2093-2100.e3. [PMID: 35334226 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2022.03.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/13/2021] [Revised: 12/17/2021] [Accepted: 03/02/2022] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
Taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic diversities are important facets of biodiversity. Studying them together has improved our understanding of community dynamics, ecosystem functioning, and conservation values.1-3 In contrast to species, traits, and phylogenies, the diversity of biotic interactions has so far been largely ignored as a biodiversity facet in large-scale studies. This neglect represents a crucial shortfall because biotic interactions shape community dynamics, drive important aspects of ecosystem functioning,4-7 provide services to humans, and have intrinsic conservation value.8,9 Hence, the diversity of interactions can provide crucial and unique information with respect to other diversity facets. Here, we leveraged large datasets of trophic interactions, functional traits, phylogenies, and spatial distributions of >1,000 terrestrial vertebrate species across Europe at a 10-km resolution. We computed the diversity of interactions (interaction diversity [ID]) in addition to functional diversity (FD) and phylogenetic diversity (PD). After controlling for species richness, surplus and deficits of ID were neither correlated with FD nor with PD, thus representing unique and complementary information to the commonly studied facets of diversity. A three-dimensional mapping allowed for visualizing different combinations of ID-FD-PD simultaneously. Interestingly, the spatial distribution of these diversity combinations closely matched the boundaries between 10 European biogeographic regions and revealed new interaction-rich areas in the European Boreal region and interaction-poor areas in Central Europe. Our study demonstrates that the diversity of interactions adds new and ecologically relevant information to multifacetted, large-scale diversity studies with implications for understanding eco-evolutionary processes and informing conservation planning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pierre Gaüzère
- University Grenoble Alpes, University Savoie Mont Blanc, CNRS, LECA, 38000 Grenoble, France.
| | - Louise O'Connor
- University Grenoble Alpes, University Savoie Mont Blanc, CNRS, LECA, 38000 Grenoble, France
| | - Christophe Botella
- University Grenoble Alpes, University Savoie Mont Blanc, CNRS, LECA, 38000 Grenoble, France
| | - Giovanni Poggiato
- University Grenoble Alpes, University Savoie Mont Blanc, CNRS, LECA, 38000 Grenoble, France
| | - Tamara Münkemüller
- University Grenoble Alpes, University Savoie Mont Blanc, CNRS, LECA, 38000 Grenoble, France
| | - Laura J Pollock
- Biology Department, McGill University, Montréal, QC H3A 1B1, Canada
| | - Ulrich Brose
- Institute of Biodiversity, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Jena, Germany; German Center for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Luigi Maiorano
- Department of Biology and Biotechnologies "Charles Darwin," "Sapienza" University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Michael Harfoot
- United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC), Cambridge, UK
| | - Wilfried Thuiller
- University Grenoble Alpes, University Savoie Mont Blanc, CNRS, LECA, 38000 Grenoble, France
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Pardo‐De la Hoz CJ, Medeiros ID, Gibert JP, Chagnon P, Magain N, Miadlikowska J, Lutzoni F. Phylogenetic structure of specialization: A new approach that integrates partner availability and phylogenetic diversity to quantify biotic specialization in ecological networks. Ecol Evol 2022; 12:e8649. [PMID: 35261742 PMCID: PMC8888259 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.8649] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2021] [Revised: 12/25/2021] [Accepted: 01/28/2022] [Indexed: 01/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Biotic specialization holds information about the assembly, evolution, and stability of biological communities. Partner availabilities can play an important role in enabling species interactions, where uneven partner availabilities can bias estimates of biotic specialization when using phylogenetic diversity indices. It is therefore important to account for partner availability when characterizing biotic specialization using phylogenies. We developed an index, phylogenetic structure of specialization (PSS), that avoids bias from uneven partner availabilities by uncoupling the null models for interaction frequency and phylogenetic distance. We incorporate the deviation between observed and random interaction frequencies as weights into the calculation of partner phylogenetic α‐diversity. To calculate the PSS index, we then compare observed partner phylogenetic α‐diversity to a null distribution generated by randomizing phylogenetic distances among the same number of partners. PSS quantifies the phylogenetic structure (i.e., clustered, overdispersed, or random) of the partners of a focal species. We show with simulations that the PSS index is not correlated with network properties, which allows comparisons across multiple systems. We also implemented PSS on empirical networks of host–parasite, avian seed‐dispersal, lichenized fungi–cyanobacteria, and hummingbird pollination interactions. Across these systems, a large proportion of taxa interact with phylogenetically random partners according to PSS, sometimes to a larger extent than detected with an existing method that does not account for partner availability. We also found that many taxa interact with phylogenetically clustered partners, while taxa with overdispersed partners were rare. We argue that species with phylogenetically overdispersed partners have often been misinterpreted as generalists when they should be considered specialists. Our results highlight the important role of randomness in shaping interaction networks, even in highly intimate symbioses, and provide a much‐needed quantitative framework to assess the role that evolutionary history and symbiotic specialization play in shaping patterns of biodiversity. PSS is available as an R package at https://github.com/cjpardodelahoz/pss.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Jean P. Gibert
- Department of BiologyDuke UniversityDurhamNorth CarolinaUSA
| | - Pierre‐Luc Chagnon
- Département des Sciences BiologiquesUniversité de MontréalMontréalQuébecCanada
| | - Nicolas Magain
- Biologie de l’évolution et de la ConservationUniversité de LiègeLiègeBelgium
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Van Den Berge K, van der Veken T, Gouwy J, Verschelde P, Eeraerts M. Dietary composition and overlap among small‐ and medium‐sized carnivores in Flanders, Belgium. Ecol Res 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/1440-1703.12276] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Koen Van Den Berge
- Department of Wildlife Management and Invasive Species Research Institute of Forest and Nature Geraardsbergen Belgium
| | - Timo van der Veken
- Department of Wildlife Management and Invasive Species Research Institute of Forest and Nature Geraardsbergen Belgium
| | - Jan Gouwy
- Department of Wildlife Management and Invasive Species Research Institute of Forest and Nature Geraardsbergen Belgium
| | - Pieter Verschelde
- Department of Biometry, Methodology and Quality Assurance Research Institute of Forest and Nature Geraardsbergen Belgium
| | - Maxime Eeraerts
- Department of Wildlife Management and Invasive Species Research Institute of Forest and Nature Geraardsbergen Belgium
- Department of Horticulture Washington State University Northwestern Washington Research and Extension Center Mount Vernon WA USA
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de Angeli Dutra D, Fecchio A, Braga ÉM, Poulin R. Haemosporidian taxonomic composition, network centrality and partner fidelity between resident and migratory avian hosts. Oecologia 2021; 197:501-509. [PMID: 34482439 DOI: 10.1007/s00442-021-05031-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/05/2021] [Accepted: 08/29/2021] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
Migration can modify interaction dynamics between parasites and their hosts with migrant hosts able to disperse parasites and impact local community transmission. Thus, studying the relationships among migratory hosts and their parasites is fundamental to elucidate how migration shapes host-parasite interactions. Avian haemosporidians are some of the most prevalent and diverse group of wildlife parasites and are also widely studied as models in ecological and evolutionary research. Here, we contrast partner fidelity, network centrality and parasite taxonomic composition among resident and non-resident avian hosts using presence/absence data on haemosporidians parasitic in South American birds as study model. We ran multilevel Bayesian models to assess the role of migration in determining partner fidelity (i.e., normalized degree) and centrality (i.e., weighted closeness) in host-parasite networks of avian hosts and their respective haemosporidian parasites. In addition, to evaluate parasite taxonomic composition, we performed permutational multivariate analyses of variance to quantify dissimilarity in haemosporidian lineages infecting different host migratory categories. We observed similar partner fidelity and parasite taxonomic composition among resident and migratory hosts. Conversely, we demonstrate that migratory hosts play a more central role in host-parasite networks than residents. However, when evaluating partially and fully migratory hosts separately, we observed that only partially migratory species presented higher network centrality when compared to resident birds. Therefore, migration does not lead to differences in both partner fidelity and parasite taxonomic composition. However, migratory behavior is positively associated with network centrality, indicating migratory hosts play more important roles in shaping host-parasite interactions and influence local transmission.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Alan Fecchio
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia e Conservação da Biodiversidade, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso, Cuiabá, MT, 78060-900, Brazil
| | - Érika Martins Braga
- Departamento de Parasitologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
| | - Robert Poulin
- Department of Zoology, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
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Stephan P, Bramon Mora B, Alexander JM. Positive species interactions shape species' range limits. OIKOS 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/oik.08146] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Pauline Stephan
- Dept of Environmental Systems Science, ETH Zürich Zürich Switzerland
| | | | - Jake M. Alexander
- Dept of Environmental Systems Science, ETH Zürich Zürich Switzerland
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Pollinator interaction flexibility across scales affects patch colonization and occupancy. Nat Ecol Evol 2021; 5:787-793. [PMID: 33795853 DOI: 10.1038/s41559-021-01434-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/11/2020] [Accepted: 02/26/2021] [Indexed: 02/01/2023]
Abstract
Global change alters ecological communities and may disrupt ecological interactions and the provision of ecosystem functions. As ecological communities respond to global change, species may either go locally extinct or form novel interactions. To date, few studies have assessed how flexible species are in their interaction patterns, mainly due to the scarcity of data spanning long time series. Using a ten-year species-level dataset on the assembly of mutualistic networks from the Central Valley in California, we test whether interaction flexibility affects pollinators' colonization and persistence and their resulting habitat occupancy in a highly modified landscape. We propose three metrics of interaction flexibility associated with different scales of organization within ecological communities and explore which species' traits affect them. Our results provide empirical evidence linking species' ability to colonize habitat patches across a landscape to the role they play in networks. Phenological breadth and body size had contrasting effects on interaction flexibility. We demonstrate the relationship between mutualistic networks and species' ability to colonize and persist in the landscape, suggesting interaction flexibility as a potential mechanism for communities to maintain ecosystem function despite changes in community composition.
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