Context-dependency and anthropogenic effects on individual plant-frugivore networks

Using individual-based trait frequency distributions to forecast plant-pollinator network responses to environmental change

Determining how and why organisms interact is fundamental to understanding ecosystem responses to future environmental change. To assess the impact on plant-pollinator interactions, recent studies have examined how the effects of environmental change on individual interactions accumulate to generate species-level responses. Here, we review recent developments in using plant-pollinator networks of interacting individuals along with their functional traits, where individuals are nested within species nodes. We highlight how these individual-level, trait-based networks connect intraspecific trait variation (as frequency distributions of multiple traits) with dynamic responses within plant-pollinator communities. This approach can better explain interaction plasticity, and changes to interaction probabilities and network structure over spatiotemporal or other environmental gradients. We argue that only through appreciating such trait-based interaction plasticity can we accurately forecast the potential vulnerability of interactions to future environmental change. We follow this with general guidance on how future studies can collect and analyse high-resolution interaction and trait data, with the hope of improving predictions of future plant-pollinator network responses for targeted and effective conservation.

Organization of the macroinvertebrate community in a tropical annual agroecosystem into modules

The structure of macroinvertebrate communities in agroecosystems has been assumed to be modular and organized around key herbivore pests. We characterized the macroinvertebrate community in the annual organic brassica agroecosystem in tropical central Brazil to determine if the community was a random assemblage of independent populations or was organized into repeatable multi-species components. We sampled 36 macroinvertebrate taxa associated with six organic brassica farms at biweekly intervals during the dry season during two years in the Distrito Federal, Brazil. We used an unconstrained ordination based on latent variable modeling (boral) with negative binomial population counts to analyze community composition independent of variation in sample abundance. We evaluated observed community structure by comparing it with randomized alternatives. We found that the community was not a random assemblage and consistently organized itself into two modules based around the major herbivores; one with lepidoptera and whiteflies and their associated natural enemies which was gradually replaced during the season by one with brassica aphids, aphid parasitoids and coccinellids. This analysis suggests that the historical and present-day focus on pest herbivores and their associated species in agroecosystems may be justified based on community structure.

Modularity in host-parasite mixed networks: interaction configuration shifts based on human perturbation and parasitism form

Parasitism is an association based on host individual traits and environmental factors. The complexity of this type of interaction is often lost when studying species-by-species interaction networks. Here we analyze changes in modularity - a metric describing groups of nodes interacting much more frequently among themselves than they do with nodes of other modules, considering the host individual variation and the different forms of parasitism: ecto- and endo-parasitism. For this, we studied mixed networks: bipartite networks comprising host individuals and parasite species as two sets of nodes interacting with each other. We used a fish-parasite mixed network from a highly perturbed coastal river to understand how an anthropogenic perturbation gradient influences the modular structure of host-parasite networks. In addition, we tested how host individual traits drove module configuration within host-parasite mixed networks. Our results showed that different forms of parasitism respond differently to the environment: modularity in fish-ectoparasite networks increased with human perturbation, but modularity was not related to human perturbation in fish-endoparasite networks. In addition, mixed network modules were intrinsically related to individual variation, with host intensity of infection being the most important trait, regardless of the parasite's life form. The effect of total abundance over network structure indicates signs of changes in community equilibrium, with an increase in species with opportunistic behaviors. Module composition was also related to host fitness and body size, which were most predictive in more preserved and diverse river sections. Overall, our results indicate that host-parasite networks are sensitive to ecological gradients marked by human perturbation and that host individual fitness helps to determine network structure.

Importance of species traits on individual-based seed dispersal networks and dispersal distance for endangered trees in a fragmented forest

Although mutualistic network analyses have sparked a renewed interest in the patterns and drivers of network structures within communities, few studies have explored structural patterns within populations. In an endangered tree species population, plant individuals share their bird seed dispersers; however, the factors affecting individual interaction patterns are poorly understood. In this study, four individual-based networks were built for the endangered Chinese yew, Taxus chinensis, in a fragmented forest based on bird foraging type (swallowing and pecking networks) and habitat type (networks in a bamboo patch and an evergreen broad-leaved forest patch). Species-level network metrics (species degree and specialization, d') were used to evaluate the effects of species traits (bird and plant traits) on species-level networks and dispersal distance for T. chinensis. It was revealed that the interaction networks between T. chinensis individuals and their bird partners were influenced by foraging type and the habitat of plant distribution. Compared to the other two networks, bird swallowing and bird-fruit networks in the evergreen broad-leaved patch habitat had higher nestedness and connectance but lower modules and specialization. Bird (body weight and wing and bill lengths) and plant traits (height, crop size, and cover) significantly affected species-level network metrics such as degree and specialization. Furthermore, seed dispersal distance was influenced by species traits and the species-level metrics of fruit-bird interaction networks. These results provide new insights into individual-based seed dispersal mutualistic networks of endangered plant species under habitat fragmentation. Moreover, these findings have relevant implications for conserving and managing individual endangered trees in increasingly disturbed ecosystems.

Plant height and spatial context influence individual connectivity and specialization on seed dispersers in a tree population

While network analyses have stimulated a renewed interest in understanding patterns and drivers of specialization within communities, few studies have explored specialization within populations. Thus, in plant populations, causes and consequences of individual variation in their interactions with mutualistic animals remain poorly understood. Studying a Brazilian pepper (Schinus terebinthifolia) population, we measured the extent of individual variation in interactions with seed dispersers and tested whether connectivity (number of seed dispersers) and specialization (exclusiveness of partners) are associated with phenotypic and phenological traits of individuals and their spatial context. We found that: (i) individuals varied broadly in their connectivity and specialization on seed dispersers; (ii) phenotypic traits and spatial context matter more than fruiting duration in determining how many and how exclusive are seed dispersers of an individual; (iii) the individual-based network was nested and indicated that the less connected individuals were shorter, occurred in neighborhoods with fewer fruits, and tended to interact with a subset of the partners of more generalist individuals which, in turn, were taller and inserted in higher fruit density neighborhoods; (iv) modularity indicated the existence of subsets of individuals that interacted disproportionately with distinct groups of partners, which may occur due to differences in bird habitat use across the landscape. Our study underlines a remarkable interindividual variation that is overlooked when interactions are compiled to describe species-level interactions. Traits and spatial contexts that define variation among individuals may have important implications not only for fitness but also for sampling and description of interactions at species level.

Addressing context dependence in ecology

Context dependence is widely invoked to explain disparate results in ecology. It arises when the magnitude or sign of a relationship varies due to the conditions under which it is observed. Such variation, especially when unexplained, can lead to spurious or seemingly contradictory conclusions, which can limit understanding and our ability to transfer findings across studies, space, and time. Using examples from biological invasions, we identify two types of context dependence resulting from four sources: mechanistic context dependence arises from interaction effects; and apparent context dependence can arise from the presence of confounding factors, problems of statistical inference, and methodological differences among studies. Addressing context dependence is a critical challenge in ecology, essential for increased understanding and prediction.