1
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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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Vitali A, Vázquez DP, Miguel MF, Sasal Y, Rodríguez-Cabal MA. A keystone mutualism promotes resistance to invasion. J Anim Ecol 2021; 91:74-85. [PMID: 34558076 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.13597] [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] [Received: 01/21/2021] [Accepted: 09/17/2021] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
It is not uncommon for one or a few species, and their interactions, to have disproportionate effects on other species in ecological communities. Such keystone interactions might affect how communities respond to the invasion of non-native species by preventing or inhibiting the establishment, spread or impact of non-native species. We explore whether a keystone mutualism among a hummingbird-mistletoe-marsupial promotes ecological resistance to an invasive pollinator, the bumblebee Bombus terrestris, by comparing data collected at sites prior to bumblebee invasion to data collected 11 years after the invasion in sites with and without the keystone mutualism. We built pollination networks and focused on network motifs, regarded as building blocks of networks, to identify the central pollinators and estimate the change in their interactions after invasion of B. terrestris. We also estimated the interaction rewiring across the season in post-invasion networks and tested it as a possible mechanism explaining how the keystone mutualism increased ecological resistance to invasion. We found two times more species in post-invasion sites with the keystone mutualism than in post-invasion sites without the keystone mutualism. Moreover, we found that invasive bumblebee reduced the strength and interaction niche of the five central pollinator species while increasing its own strength and interaction niche, suggesting a replacement of interactions. Also, we found that the keystone mutualism promoted resistance to B. terrestris invasion by reducing its negative impacts on central species. In the presence of the keystone mutualism, central species had three times more direct interactions than in sites without this keystone mutualism. The higher interaction rewiring, after invasion of B. terrestris, in sites with the keystone mutualism indicates greater chances of central pollinators to form new interactions and reduces their competence for resources with the non-native bumblebee. Our results demonstrate that a keystone mutualism can enhance community resistance against the impacts of a non-native invasive pollinator by increasing species diversity and promoting interaction rewiring in the community. This study suggests that the conservation of mutualisms, especially those considered keystone, could be essential for long-term preservation of natural communities under current and future impacts of global change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Agustin Vitali
- Grupo de Ecología de Invasiones & Laboratorio Ecotono, Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente (INIBIOMA) - CONICET- Universidad Nacional del Comahue, Bariloche, Argentina
| | - Diego P Vázquez
- Instituto Argentino de Investigaciones de las Zonas Áridas, CONICET & Universidad Nacional de Cuyo, Mendoza, Argentina.,Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Cuyo, Mendoza, Argentina
| | - María F Miguel
- Instituto Argentino de Investigaciones de las Zonas Áridas, CONICET & Universidad Nacional de Cuyo, Mendoza, Argentina
| | - Yamila Sasal
- Grupo de Ecología de Invasiones & Laboratorio Ecotono, Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente (INIBIOMA) - CONICET- Universidad Nacional del Comahue, Bariloche, Argentina
| | - Mariano A Rodríguez-Cabal
- Grupo de Ecología de Invasiones & Laboratorio Ecotono, Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente (INIBIOMA) - CONICET- Universidad Nacional del Comahue, Bariloche, Argentina.,Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, USA
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3
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Carpentier C, Barabás G, Spaak JW, De Laender F. Reinterpreting the relationship between number of species and number of links connects community structure and stability. Nat Ecol Evol 2021; 5:1102-1109. [PMID: 34059819 DOI: 10.1038/s41559-021-01468-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/02/2020] [Accepted: 04/16/2021] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
For 50 years, ecologists have examined how the number of interactions (links) scales with the number of species in ecological networks. Here, we show that the way the number of links varies when species are sequentially removed from a community is fully defined by a single parameter identifiable from empirical data. We mathematically demonstrate that this parameter is network-specific and connects local stability and robustness, establishing a formal connection between community structure and two prime stability concepts. Importantly, this connection highlights a local stability-robustness trade-off, which is stronger in mutualistic than in trophic networks. Analysis of 435 empirical networks confirmed these results. We finally show how our network-specific approach relates to the classical across-network approach found in literature. Taken together, our results elucidate one of the intricate relationships between network structure and stability in community networks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Camille Carpentier
- Research Unit in Environmental and Evolutionary Biology, Institute of Life, Earth and the Environment, Namur Institute of Complex Systems, University of Namur, Namur, Belgium.
| | - György Barabás
- Department of Physics, Chemistry and Biology, Division of Theoretical Biology, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden.,MTA-ELTE Theoretical Biology and Evolutionary Ecology Research Group, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Jürg Werner Spaak
- Research Unit in Environmental and Evolutionary Biology, Institute of Life, Earth and the Environment, Namur Institute of Complex Systems, University of Namur, Namur, Belgium.,Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
| | - Frederik De Laender
- Research Unit in Environmental and Evolutionary Biology, Institute of Life, Earth and the Environment, Namur Institute of Complex Systems, University of Namur, Namur, Belgium
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4
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Fortuna MA, Nagavci A, Barbour MA, Bascompte J. Partner Fidelity and Asymmetric Specialization in Ecological Networks. Am Nat 2020; 196:382-389. [PMID: 32813994 DOI: 10.1086/709961] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Abstract
AbstractSpecies are embedded in complex networks of interdependencies that may change across geographic locations. Yet most approaches to investigate the architecture of this entangled web of life have considered exclusively local communities. To quantify to what extent species interactions change at a biogeographic scale, we need to shed light on how among-community variation affects the occurrence of species interactions. Here we quantify the probability for two partners to interact wherever they co-occur (i.e., partner fidelity) by analyzing the most extensive database on species interaction networks worldwide. We found that mutualistic species show more fidelity in their interactions than antagonistic ones when there is asymmetric specialization (i.e., when specialist species interact with generalist partners). Moreover, resources (e.g., plants in plant-pollinator mutualisms or hosts in host-parasite interactions) show a higher partner fidelity in mutualistic interactions than in antagonistic interactions, which can be explained neither by sampling effort nor by phylogenetic constraints developed during their evolutionary histories. In spite of the general belief that mutualistic interactions among free-living species are labile, asymmetric specialization is very much conserved across large geographic areas.
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5
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Xi X, Yang Y, Tylianakis JM, Yang S, Dong Y, Sun S. Asymmetric interactions of seed-predation network contribute to rare-species advantage. Ecology 2020; 101:e03050. [PMID: 32233082 DOI: 10.1002/ecy.3050] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/21/2019] [Accepted: 02/25/2020] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Abstract
Although the asymmetry of species linkage within ecological networks is now well recognized, its effect on communities has scarcely been empirically investigated. Based on theory, we predicted that an asymmetric architecture of antagonistic plant-herbivore networks would emerge at the community level and that this asymmetry would negatively affect community-common plants more than rare ones. We tested this prediction by analyzing the architectural properties of an alpine plant and pre-dispersal seed-predator network and its effect on seed loss rate of plants in the Tibetan Plateau. This network showed an asymmetric architecture, where the common plant species (with a larger aboveground biomass per area) were infested by a higher number of predator species. Moreover, they asymmetrically interacted with specialized herbivores, presumably because of greater seed resource abundance. In turn, the asymmetric interactions led to a higher proportion of seed loss in the common plants at the species level. Our results suggest that asymmetric antagonistic networks may improve species coexistence by contributing to a mechanism of rare-species advantage.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xinqiang Xi
- Department of Ecology, School of Life Science, Nanjing University, 163 Xianlin Avenue, Nanjing, 210023, China
| | - Yangheshan Yang
- Department of Ecology, School of Life Science, Nanjing University, 163 Xianlin Avenue, Nanjing, 210023, China
| | - Jason M Tylianakis
- Bioprotection Research Centre and Centre for Integrative Ecology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, 8140, New Zealand
| | - Sihai Yang
- Department of Ecology, School of Life Science, Nanjing University, 163 Xianlin Avenue, Nanjing, 210023, China
| | - Yuran Dong
- Department of Ecology, School of Life Science, Nanjing University, 163 Xianlin Avenue, Nanjing, 210023, China
| | - Shucun Sun
- Department of Ecology, School of Life Science, Nanjing University, 163 Xianlin Avenue, Nanjing, 210023, China.,Chengdu Institute of Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 9 Section 4, Renminnan Rd, Chengdu, 610041, China
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6
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de Oliveira Lima G, Leite AV, Souza CS, Castro CC, de Santana Bezerra EL. A multilayer network in an herbaceous tropical community reveals multiple roles of floral visitors. OIKOS 2020. [DOI: 10.1111/oik.06565] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Geiza de Oliveira Lima
- Programa de Pós‐graduação em Botânica, Depto de Biologia, Univ. Federal Rural de Pernambuco Recife Pernambuco Brazil
| | - Ana Virgínia Leite
- Programa de Pós‐graduação em Botânica, Depto de Biologia, Univ. Federal Rural de Pernambuco Recife Pernambuco Brazil
| | - Camila Silveira Souza
- Campus Centro Politécnico, Depto de Botânica, Programa de Pós‐Graduação em Botânica, Univ. Federal do Paraná Curitiba Paraná Brazil
| | - Cibele Cardoso Castro
- Unidade Acadêmica de Garanhuns, Univ. Federal Rural de Pernambuco Avenida Bom Pastor s/n Garanhuns Pernambuco 55292‐272 Brazil
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7
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Deroulers P, Bretagnolle V. The consumption pattern of 28 species of carabid beetles (Carabidae) to a weed seed, Viola arvensis. BULLETIN OF ENTOMOLOGICAL RESEARCH 2019; 109:229-235. [PMID: 29973302 DOI: 10.1017/s0007485318000457] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
Seedbank control has been the cornerstone of agricultural management practices. Regulating weeds by using their predators, as a weed control strategy, may be a prerequisite of decreasing herbicide use, and has thus attracted much research investigating the possible contribution of both vertebrates and invertebrates as weed seed predators. Carabid beetles are considered as one of the most important invertebrate seed predators in agroecosystems. We aimed at investigating carabid beetle preferences to a single prey type, seeds of Viola arvensis. We measured the consumption of seeds in 28 species of carabid beetles, under controlled experimental conditions. Two main tribes are identified in tested species, Harpalini with 12 species and Pterostichini with ten species. We found no relationships between species body mass and Viola's seed consumption, nor with the ratio between mandible length and labrum width (ML/LW). However, trends became significant with the ratio ML/LW when restricting these analyses to species that ate at least five seeds. In addition, we detected a positive and significant relationship between consumption rate and occurrence in trapping sessions over the last 3 years. These results are in favor of weed seeds control by carabids. Clear limits of this study are the use of a single seed species and under control conditions. This experimentation calls for additional studies to check for consistencies in consumption against seed species.
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Affiliation(s)
- P Deroulers
- Centre d'Etudes Biologiques de Chizé, UMR7372, CNRS & Univ. La Rochelle,F-79360 Villiers-en-Bois,France
| | - V Bretagnolle
- Centre d'Etudes Biologiques de Chizé, UMR7372, CNRS & Univ. La Rochelle,F-79360 Villiers-en-Bois,France
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8
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Grafe TU, Ahmad Sah HH, Ahmad N, Borkent A, Meuche I, Konopik O. Studying the sensory ecology of frog‐biting midges (Corethrellidae: Diptera) and their frog hosts using ecological interaction networks. J Zool (1987) 2018. [DOI: 10.1111/jzo.12612] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- T. U. Grafe
- Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology University of Würzburg Würzburg Germany
- Faculty of Science and Institute for Biodiversity and Environmental Research Universiti Brunei Darussalam Gadong Brunei Darussalam
| | - H. H. Ahmad Sah
- Faculty of Science and Institute for Biodiversity and Environmental Research Universiti Brunei Darussalam Gadong Brunei Darussalam
| | - N. Ahmad
- Faculty of Science and Institute for Biodiversity and Environmental Research Universiti Brunei Darussalam Gadong Brunei Darussalam
| | - A. Borkent
- Research Associate of the Royal British Columbia Museum Salmon Arm British Columbia Canada
| | - I. Meuche
- Faculty of Science and Institute for Biodiversity and Environmental Research Universiti Brunei Darussalam Gadong Brunei Darussalam
| | - O. Konopik
- Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology University of Würzburg Würzburg Germany
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9
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Hardy NB, Peterson DA, Ross L, Rosenheim JA. Does a plant-eating insect's diet govern the evolution of insecticide resistance? Comparative tests of the pre-adaptation hypothesis. Evol Appl 2017; 11:739-747. [PMID: 29875815 PMCID: PMC5979754 DOI: 10.1111/eva.12579] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/28/2017] [Accepted: 11/20/2017] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
According to the pre‐adaptation hypothesis, the evolution of insecticide resistance in plant‐eating insects co‐opts adaptations that initially evolved during chemical warfare with their host plants. Here, we used comparative statistics to test two predictions of this hypothesis: (i) Insects with more diverse diets should evolve resistance to more diverse insecticides. (ii) Feeding on host plants with strong or diverse qualitative chemical defenses should prime an insect lineage to evolve insecticide resistance. Both predictions are supported by our tests. What makes this especially noteworthy is that differences in the diets of plant‐eating insect species are typically ignored by the population genetic models we use to make predictions about insecticide resistance evolution. Those models surely capture some of the differences between host‐use generalists and specialists, for example, differences in population size and migration rates into treated fields, but they miss other potentially important differences, for example, differences in metabolic diversity and gene expression plasticity. Ignoring these differences could be costly.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nate B Hardy
- Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology Auburn University Auburn AL USA
| | - Daniel A Peterson
- Graduate Program in Organismic & Evolutionary Biology Department of Biology University of Massachusetts Amherst MA USA
| | - Laura Ross
- School of Biological Sciences Institute of Evolutionary Biology University of Edinburgh Edinburgh UK
| | - Jay A Rosenheim
- Department of Entomology and Nematology University of California Davis CA USA
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10
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Astegiano J, Altermatt F, Massol F. Disentangling the co-structure of multilayer interaction networks: degree distribution and module composition in two-layer bipartite networks. Sci Rep 2017; 7:15465. [PMID: 29133886 PMCID: PMC5684352 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-15811-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/11/2017] [Accepted: 11/02/2017] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Species establish different interactions (e.g. antagonistic, mutualistic) with multiple species, forming multilayer ecological networks. Disentangling network co-structure in multilayer networks is crucial to predict how biodiversity loss may affect the persistence of multispecies assemblages. Existing methods to analyse multilayer networks often fail to consider network co-structure. We present a new method to evaluate the modular co-structure of multilayer networks through the assessment of species degree co-distribution and network module composition. We focus on modular structure because of its high prevalence among ecological networks. We apply our method to two Lepidoptera-plant networks, one describing caterpillar-plant herbivory interactions and one representing adult Lepidoptera nectaring on flowers, thereby possibly pollinating them. More than 50% of the species established either herbivory or visitation interactions, but not both. These species were over-represented among plants and lepidopterans, and were present in most modules in both networks. Similarity in module composition between networks was high but not different from random expectations. Our method clearly delineates the importance of interpreting multilayer module composition similarity in the light of the constraints imposed by network structure to predict the potential indirect effects of species loss through interconnected modular networks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julia Astegiano
- Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal, FCEFyN, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, CONICET, Argentina.
- Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive (CEFE), UMR 5175, CNRS - Université de Montpellier - Université Paul Valéry Montpellier - EPHE, 1919 route de Mende, F-34293, Montpellier, France.
| | - Florian Altermatt
- Eawag, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, Department of Aquatic Ecology, CH-8600, Dübendorf, Switzerland
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, CH-8057, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - François Massol
- Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive (CEFE), UMR 5175, CNRS - Université de Montpellier - Université Paul Valéry Montpellier - EPHE, 1919 route de Mende, F-34293, Montpellier, France
- CNRS, Université de Lille-Sciences et Technologies, UMR 8198 Evo-Eco-Paleo, SPICI group, F-59000, Lille, France
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11
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Epps MJ, Arnold AE. Diversity, abundance and community network structure in sporocarp-associated beetle communities of the central Appalachian Mountains. Mycologia 2017; 102:785-802. [DOI: 10.3852/09-161] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Mary Jane Epps
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721
| | - A. Elizabeth Arnold
- Division of Plant Pathology and Microbiology, School of Plant Sciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721
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12
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Armbruster WS. The specialization continuum in pollination systems: diversity of concepts and implications for ecology, evolution and conservation. Funct Ecol 2016. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.12783] [Citation(s) in RCA: 95] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/01/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- William Scott Armbruster
- School of Biological Sciences University of Portsmouth PortsmouthPO1 2DY UK
- Institute of Arctic Biology University of Alaska Fairbanks Fairbanks AK99775‐7000 USA
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13
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14
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Abstract
SUMMARYHosts and parasites interact with each other in a variety of ways, and this diversity of interactions is reflected in the networks they form. To test for differences in interaction patterns of ecto- and endoparasites we analysed subnetworks formed by each kind of parasites and their host fish species in fish–parasite networks for 22 localities. We assessed the proportion of parasite species per host species, the relationship between parasite fauna composition and host taxonomy, connectance, nestedness and modularity of each subnetwork (n = 44). Furthermore, we evaluated the similarity in host species composition among modules in ecto- and endoparasite subnetworks. We found several differences between subnetworks of fish ecto- and endoparasites. The association with a higher number of host species observed among endoparasites resulted in higher connectance and nestedness, and lower values of modularity in their subnetworks than in those of ectoparasites. Taxonomically related host species tended to share ecto- or endoparasites with the same interaction intensity, but the species composition of hosts tended to differ between modules formed by ecto- and endoparasites. Our results suggest that different evolutionary and ecological processes are responsible for organizing the networks formed by ecto- and endoparasites and fish.
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15
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de Araújo WS, Vieira MC, Lewinsohn TM, Almeida-Neto M. Contrasting effects of land use intensity and exotic host plants on the specialization of interactions in plant-herbivore networks. PLoS One 2015; 10:e0115606. [PMID: 25565141 PMCID: PMC4286214 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0115606] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/08/2014] [Accepted: 11/30/2014] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Human land use tends to decrease the diversity of native plant species and facilitate the invasion and establishment of exotic ones. Such changes in land use and plant community composition usually have negative impacts on the assemblages of native herbivorous insects. Highly specialized herbivores are expected to be especially sensitive to land use intensification and the presence of exotic plant species because they are neither capable of consuming alternative plant species of the native flora nor exotic plant species. Therefore, higher levels of land use intensity might reduce the proportion of highly specialized herbivores, which ultimately would lead to changes in the specialization of interactions in plant-herbivore networks. This study investigates the community-wide effects of land use intensity on the degree of specialization of 72 plant-herbivore networks, including effects mediated by the increase in the proportion of exotic plant species. Contrary to our expectation, the net effect of land use intensity on network specialization was positive. However, this positive effect of land use intensity was partially canceled by an opposite effect of the proportion of exotic plant species on network specialization. When we analyzed networks composed exclusively of endophagous herbivores separately from those composed exclusively of exophagous herbivores, we found that only endophages showed a consistent change in network specialization at higher land use levels. Altogether, these results indicate that land use intensity is an important ecological driver of network specialization, by way of reducing the local host range of herbivore guilds with highly specialized feeding habits. However, because the effect of land use intensity is offset by an opposite effect owing to the proportion of exotic host species, the net effect of land use in a given herbivore assemblage will likely depend on the extent of the replacement of native host species with exotic ones.
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Affiliation(s)
- Walter Santos de Araújo
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia e Evolução, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Goiás, Goiânia, Goiás, Brazil
- Laboratório de Interações Ecológicas e Biodiversidade, Departamento de Ecologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Goiás, Goiânia, Goiás, Brazil
- * E-mail:
| | - Marcos Costa Vieira
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia e Evolução, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Goiás, Goiânia, Goiás, Brazil
- Laboratório de Interações Ecológicas e Biodiversidade, Departamento de Ecologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Goiás, Goiânia, Goiás, Brazil
| | - Thomas M. Lewinsohn
- Laboratório de Interações Insetos-Plantas, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Mário Almeida-Neto
- Laboratório de Interações Ecológicas e Biodiversidade, Departamento de Ecologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Goiás, Goiânia, Goiás, Brazil
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16
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17
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Morlon H, Kefi S, Martinez ND. Effects of trophic similarity on community composition. Ecol Lett 2014; 17:1495-506. [DOI: 10.1111/ele.12356] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/22/2014] [Revised: 06/02/2014] [Accepted: 08/19/2014] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Hélène Morlon
- Institut de Biologie; Ecole Normale Supérieure; UMR CNRS 8197, 46 rue d'Ulm Paris 75005 France
- Centre de Mathématiques Appliquées; Ecole Polytechnique; UMR CNRS 7641, Route de Saclay Palaiseau Cedex 91128 France
| | - Sonia Kefi
- Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution; Université de Montpellier II; CNRS, IRD, CC 065; Place Eugène Bataillon; 34095 Montpellier Cedex 05 France
| | - Neo D. Martinez
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary; University of Arizona; Tucson AZ 85721 USA
- Pacific Ecoinformatics and Computational Ecology Lab; Berkeley CA 94703 USA
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Yoshikawa T, Isagi Y. Determination of temperate bird-flower interactions as entangled mutualistic and antagonistic sub-networks: characterization at the network and species levels. J Anim Ecol 2013; 83:651-60. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.12161] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/04/2013] [Accepted: 10/01/2013] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Tetsuro Yoshikawa
- Ecological Environment Research Office; Graduate School of Agriculture and Life Science; The University of Tokyo; 1-1-1 Yayoi, Bunkyo-ku Tokyo 113-8657 Japan
| | - Yuji Isagi
- Forest Biology Lab.; Graduate School of Agriculture; Kyoto University; Kitashirakawa Oiwakecho, Sakyo-ku Kyoto 606-8502 Japan
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19
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Plant functional traits reveal the relative contribution of habitat and food preferences to the diet of grasshoppers. Oecologia 2013; 173:1459-70. [PMID: 24096738 DOI: 10.1007/s00442-013-2738-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/13/2012] [Accepted: 07/09/2013] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Abstract
Food preferences and food availability are two major determinants of the diet of generalist herbivores and of their spatial distribution. How do these factors interact and eventually lead to diet differentiation in co-occurring herbivores? We quantified the diet of four grasshopper species co-occurring in subalpine grasslands using DNA barcoding of the plants contained in the faeces of individuals sampled in the field. The food preferences of each grasshopper species were assessed by a choice (cafeteria) experiment from among 24 plant species common in five grassland plots, in which the four grasshoppers were collected, while the habitat was described by the relative abundance of plant species in the grassland plots. Plant species were characterised by their leaf economics spectrum (LES), quantifying their nutrient vs. structural tissue content. The grasshoppers' diet, described by the mean LES of the plants eaten, could be explained by their plant preferences but not by the available plants in their habitat. The diet differed significantly across four grasshopper species pairs out of six, which validates food preferences assessed in standardised conditions as indicators for diet partitioning in nature. In contrast, variation of the functional diversity (FD) for LES in the diet was mostly correlated to the FD of the available plants in the habitat, suggesting that diet mixing depends on the environment and is not an intrinsic property of the grasshopper species. This study sheds light on the mechanisms determining the feeding niche of herbivores, showing that food preferences influence niche position whereas habitat diversity affects niche breadth.
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20
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Network Dynamics Contribute to Structure: Nestedness in Mutualistic Networks. Bull Math Biol 2013; 75:2372-88. [PMID: 24222037 DOI: 10.1007/s11538-013-9896-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2013] [Accepted: 08/15/2013] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
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21
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McQuaid CF, Britton NF. Coevolution of resource trade-offs driving species interactions in a host–parasite network: an exploratory model. THEOR ECOL-NETH 2013. [DOI: 10.1007/s12080-013-0179-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
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22
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POPIC TONYJ, WARDLE GLENDAM, DAVILA YVONNEC. Flower-visitor networks only partially predict the function of pollen transport by bees. AUSTRAL ECOL 2012. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1442-9993.2012.02377.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 63] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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23
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Ibanez S. Optimizing size thresholds in a plant–pollinator interaction web: towards a mechanistic understanding of ecological networks. Oecologia 2012; 170:233-42. [DOI: 10.1007/s00442-012-2290-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/20/2011] [Accepted: 02/21/2012] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
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24
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Fontaine C, Guimarães PR, Kéfi S, Loeuille N, Memmott J, van der Putten WH, van Veen FJF, Thébault E. The ecological and evolutionary implications of merging different types of networks. Ecol Lett 2011; 14:1170-81. [PMID: 21951949 DOI: 10.1111/j.1461-0248.2011.01688.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 230] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Interactions among species drive the ecological and evolutionary processes in ecological communities. These interactions are effectively key components of biodiversity. Studies that use a network approach to study the structure and dynamics of communities of interacting species have revealed many patterns and associated processes. Historically these studies were restricted to trophic interactions, although network approaches are now used to study a wide range of interactions, including for example the reproductive mutualisms. However, each interaction type remains studied largely in isolation from others. Merging the various interaction types within a single integrative framework is necessary if we want to further our understanding of the ecological and evolutionary dynamics of communities. Dividing the networks up is a methodological convenience as in the field the networks occur together in space and time and will be linked by shared species. Herein, we outline a conceptual framework for studying networks composed of more than one type of interaction, highlighting key questions and research areas that would benefit from their study.
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Affiliation(s)
- Colin Fontaine
- Département Ecologie et Gestion de la Biodiversité, Laboratoire Conservation des Espèces, Restauration et Suivi des Populations, UMR 7204 CNRS-MNHN, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, 61 rue Buffon, 75005 Paris, France.
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25
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Thébault E, Fontaine C. Stability of ecological communities and the architecture of mutualistic and trophic networks. Science 2010; 329:853-6. [PMID: 20705861 DOI: 10.1126/science.1188321] [Citation(s) in RCA: 882] [Impact Index Per Article: 63.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Abstract
Research on the relationship between the architecture of ecological networks and community stability has mainly focused on one type of interaction at a time, making difficult any comparison between different network types. We used a theoretical approach to show that the network architecture favoring stability fundamentally differs between trophic and mutualistic networks. A highly connected and nested architecture promotes community stability in mutualistic networks, whereas the stability of trophic networks is enhanced in compartmented and weakly connected architectures. These theoretical predictions are supported by a meta-analysis on the architecture of a large series of real pollination (mutualistic) and herbivory (trophic) networks. We conclude that strong variations in the stability of architectural patterns constrain ecological networks toward different architectures, depending on the type of interaction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elisa Thébault
- Division of Biology, Natural Environment Research Council Centre for Population Biology, Imperial College London, Silwood Park Campus, Ascot, Berkshire SL5 7PY, UK
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26
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Graham SP, Hassan HK, Burkett-Cadena ND, Guyer C, Unnasch TR. Nestedness of ectoparasite-vertebrate host networks. PLoS One 2009; 4:e7873. [PMID: 19924299 PMCID: PMC2774518 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0007873] [Citation(s) in RCA: 54] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/10/2009] [Accepted: 10/22/2009] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Determining the structure of ectoparasite-host networks will enable disease ecologists to better understand and predict the spread of vector-borne diseases. If these networks have consistent properties, then studying the structure of well-understood networks could lead to extrapolation of these properties to others, including those that support emerging pathogens. Borrowing a quantitative measure of network structure from studies of mutualistic relationships between plants and their pollinators, we analyzed 29 ectoparasite-vertebrate host networks—including three derived from molecular bloodmeal analysis of mosquito feeding patterns—using measures of nestedness to identify non-random interactions among species. We found significant nestedness in ectoparasite-vertebrate host lists for habitats ranging from tropical rainforests to polar environments. These networks showed non-random patterns of nesting, and did not differ significantly from published estimates of nestedness from mutualistic networks. Mutualistic and antagonistic networks appear to be organized similarly, with generalized ectoparasites interacting with hosts that attract many ectoparasites and more specialized ectoparasites usually interacting with these same “generalized” hosts. This finding has implications for understanding the network dynamics of vector-born pathogens. We suggest that nestedness (rather than random ectoparasite-host associations) can allow rapid transfer of pathogens throughout a network, and expand upon such concepts as the dilution effect, bridge vectors, and host switching in the context of nested ectoparasite-vertebrate host networks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sean P Graham
- Department of Biological Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama, USA.
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27
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Joppa LN, Bascompte J, Montoya JM, Solé RV, Sanderson J, Pimm SL. Reciprocal specialization in ecological networks. Ecol Lett 2009; 12:961-9. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1461-0248.2009.01341.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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28
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Moslonka-Lefebvre M, Pautasso M, Jeger MJ. Disease spread in small-size directed networks: epidemic threshold, correlation between links to and from nodes, and clustering. J Theor Biol 2009; 260:402-11. [PMID: 19545575 DOI: 10.1016/j.jtbi.2009.06.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2009] [Revised: 04/15/2009] [Accepted: 06/07/2009] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
Network epidemiology has mainly focused on large-scale complex networks. It is unclear whether findings of these investigations also apply to networks of small size. This knowledge gap is of relevance for many biological applications, including meta-communities, plant-pollinator interactions and the spread of the oomycete pathogen Phytophthora ramorum in networks of plant nurseries. Moreover, many small-size biological networks are inherently asymmetrical and thus cannot be realistically modelled with undirected networks. We modelled disease spread and establishment in directed networks of 100 and 500 nodes at four levels of connectance in six network structures (local, small-world, random, one-way, uncorrelated, and two-way scale-free networks). The model was based on the probability of infection persistence in a node and of infection transmission between connected nodes. Regardless of the size of the network, the epidemic threshold did not depend on the starting node of infection but was negatively related to the correlation coefficient between in- and out-degree for all structures, unless networks were sparsely connected. In this case clustering played a significant role. For small-size scale-free directed networks to have a lower epidemic threshold than other network structures, there needs to be a positive correlation between number of links to and from nodes. When this correlation is negative (one-way scale-free networks), the epidemic threshold for small-size networks can be higher than in non-scale-free networks. Clustering does not necessarily have an influence on the epidemic threshold if connectance is kept constant. Analyses of the influence of the clustering on the epidemic threshold in directed networks can also be spurious if they do not consider simultaneously the effect of the correlation coefficient between in- and out-degree.
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29
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Fontaine C, Thébault E, Dajoz I. Are insect pollinators more generalist than insect herbivores? Proc Biol Sci 2009; 276:3027-33. [PMID: 19515662 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2009.0635] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Recent community-level studies have acknowledged that generalist species are more widespread than previously thought and highlighted their preponderant impact on community functioning and evolution. It is suggested that the type of interaction, trophic versus mutualistic, should affect species generalization level; however, no direct comparison has been made yet. Here, we performed such a comparison using 44 plant-insect networks describing either pollination or herbivory communities. Our analysis shows that the type of interaction does indeed have an impact on various aspects of species generalism, from the distribution of generalism in the community to the phylogenetic diversity of the plants with which a given insect species interacts. However, the amplitude of the observed differences depends on the aspect of species generalism studied. While the non-quantitative and quantitative measures of generalism suggest that pollinators interact with more plant species and more evenly than herbivores, phylogenetic measures clearly show that herbivores interact with plant species far more closely related to each other than pollinators. This comparative approach offers a promising perspective to better understand the functioning and evolution of multispecies assemblages by pointing out some fundamental singularities of communities depending on the type of interaction considered.
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Affiliation(s)
- Colin Fontaine
- NERC Centre for Population Biology, Division of Biology, Imperial College London, , Silwood Park Campus, Ascot, Berkshire SL5 7PY, UK.
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30
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Vázquez DP, Blüthgen N, Cagnolo L, Chacoff NP. Uniting pattern and process in plant-animal mutualistic networks: a review. ANNALS OF BOTANY 2009; 103:1445-57. [PMID: 19304996 PMCID: PMC2701748 DOI: 10.1093/aob/mcp057] [Citation(s) in RCA: 318] [Impact Index Per Article: 21.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/01/2008] [Revised: 12/15/2008] [Accepted: 01/21/2009] [Indexed: 05/22/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Ecologists and evolutionary biologists are becoming increasingly interested in networks as a framework to study plant-animal mutualisms within their ecological context. Although such focus on networks has brought about important insights into the structure of these interactions, relatively little is still known about the mechanisms behind these patterns. SCOPE The aim in this paper is to offer an overview of the mechanisms influencing the structure of plant-animal mutualistic networks. A brief summary is presented of the salient network patterns, the potential mechanisms are discussed and the studies that have evaluated them are reviewed. This review shows that researchers of plant-animal mutualisms have made substantial progress in the understanding of the processes behind the patterns observed in mutualistic networks. At the same time, we are still far from a thorough, integrative mechanistic understanding. We close with specific suggestions for directions of future research, which include developing methods to evaluate the relative importance of mechanisms influencing network patterns and focusing research efforts on selected representative study systems throughout the world.
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Affiliation(s)
- Diego P Vázquez
- Instituto Argentino de Investigaciones de las Zonas Aridas, CONICET, Mendoza, Argentina.
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31
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Tylianakis JM, Didham RK, Bascompte J, Wardle DA. Global change and species interactions in terrestrial ecosystems. Ecol Lett 2008; 11:1351-63. [PMID: 19062363 DOI: 10.1111/j.1461-0248.2008.01250.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1152] [Impact Index Per Article: 72.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
The main drivers of global environmental change (CO2 enrichment, nitrogen deposition, climate, biotic invasions and land use) cause extinctions and alter species distributions, and recent evidence shows that they exert pervasive impacts on various antagonistic and mutualistic interactions among species. In this review, we synthesize data from 688 published studies to show that these drivers often alter competitive interactions among plants and animals, exert multitrophic effects on the decomposer food web, increase intensity of pathogen infection, weaken mutualisms involving plants, and enhance herbivory while having variable effects on predation. A recurrent finding is that there is substantial variability among studies in both the magnitude and direction of effects of any given GEC driver on any given type of biotic interaction. Further, we show that higher order effects among multiple drivers acting simultaneously create challenges in predicting future responses to global environmental change, and that extrapolating these complex impacts across entire networks of species interactions yields unanticipated effects on ecosystems. Finally, we conclude that in order to reliably predict the effects of GEC on community and ecosystem processes, the greatest single challenge will be to determine how biotic and abiotic context alters the direction and magnitude of GEC effects on biotic interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jason M Tylianakis
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Canterbury, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand.
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