1
|
Nereu M, Silva JS, Timóteo S. The disruption of birds' double mutualistic interactions in novel ecosystems. Proc Biol Sci 2024; 291:20241872. [PMID: 39437840 PMCID: PMC11495963 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2024.1872] [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] [Received: 05/14/2024] [Revised: 08/30/2024] [Accepted: 09/18/2024] [Indexed: 10/25/2024] Open
Abstract
Non-native trees disrupt ecological processes vital to native plant communities. We studied how forests dominated by Acacia dealbata and Eucalyptus globulus affect the role of birds as dual pollinators and seed dispersers in a region heavily impacted by these two non-native species. We compared bird-plant interactions in the native and in the two non-native forest types. We constructed a multilayer regional network for each forest type and evaluated differences in network dissimilarity between networks. We also calculated the bird's importance in connecting processes and variables associated with module diversity. To determine how the networks react to changes in species richness, we did a simulation of species richness gradient and link percentage for each forest type. The number of birds acting both as pollinators and seed dispersers was higher in native than in non-native forests. However, birds in non-native forests still play a crucial role in maintaining the ecological services provided to native plant communities. However, the eucalyptus network exhibited a concerning simplification, forcing bird species to fully exploit the few remaining resources, leaving little room for structural adjustments and limiting the ecosystem's ability to withstand further species loss. These findings highlight how non-native trees may trigger cascading effects across trophic levels.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Mauro Nereu
- TERRA Associate Laboratory, Department of Life Sciences, Centre for Functional Ecology, University of Coimbra, Calçada Martim de Freitas, Coimbra3000-456, Portugal
- Coimbra Agriculture School, Polytechnic Institute of Coimbra, Bencanta, Coimbra3045-601, Portugal
- Institute for Interdisciplinary Research, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
| | - Joaquim S. Silva
- Coimbra Agriculture School, Polytechnic Institute of Coimbra, Bencanta, Coimbra3045-601, Portugal
| | - Sérgio Timóteo
- TERRA Associate Laboratory, Department of Life Sciences, Centre for Functional Ecology, University of Coimbra, Calçada Martim de Freitas, Coimbra3000-456, Portugal
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Hua F, Bruijnzeel LA, Meli P, Martin PA, Zhang J, Nakagawa S, Miao X, Wang W, McEvoy C, Peña-Arancibia JL, Brancalion PHS, Smith P, Edwards DP, Balmford A. The biodiversity and ecosystem service contributions and trade-offs of forest restoration approaches. Science 2022; 376:839-844. [PMID: 35298279 DOI: 10.1126/science.abl4649] [Citation(s) in RCA: 65] [Impact Index Per Article: 32.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Abstract
Forest restoration is being scaled-up globally to deliver critical ecosystem services and biodiversity benefits, yet we lack rigorous comparison of co-benefit delivery across different restoration approaches. In a global synthesis, we use 25,950 matched data pairs from 264 studies in 53 countries to assess how delivery of climate, soil, water, and wood production services as well as biodiversity compares across a range of tree plantations and native forests. Carbon storage, water provisioning, and especially soil erosion control and biodiversity benefits are all delivered better by native forests, with compositionally simpler, younger plantations in drier regions performing particularly poorly. However, plantations exhibit an advantage in wood production. These results underscore important trade-offs among environmental and production goals that policymakers must navigate in meeting forest restoration commitments.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Fangyuan Hua
- Institute of Ecology, and Key Laboratory for Earth Surface Processes of the Ministry of Education, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, P. R. China.,Conservation Science Group, Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 3EJ, U.K
| | - L Adrian Bruijnzeel
- Department of Geography, King's College London, Bush House, London WC2B 4BG, U.K.,Institute of International Rivers and Eco-Security, Yunnan University, Kunming, 650091, Yunnan, P. R. China
| | - Paula Meli
- Department of Forest Sciences, Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture, University of São Paulo, Piracicaba, SP, 13.418-900, Brazil.,Departmento de Ciencias Forestales, Universidad de La Frontera, Av. Francisco Salazar 01145, Temuco, Chile
| | - Phillip A Martin
- Conservation Science Group, Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 3EJ, U.K
| | - Jun Zhang
- Institute of International Rivers and Eco-Security, Yunnan University, Kunming, 650091, Yunnan, P. R. China.,Environmental Modelling, Sensing & Analysis, TNO, 1755 LE Petten, Netherlands
| | - Shinichi Nakagawa
- Evolution & Ecology Research Centre and School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
| | - Xinran Miao
- Institute of Ecology, and Key Laboratory for Earth Surface Processes of the Ministry of Education, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, P. R. China
| | - Weiyi Wang
- Institute of Ecology, and Key Laboratory for Earth Surface Processes of the Ministry of Education, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, P. R. China
| | - Christopher McEvoy
- Conservation Science Group, Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 3EJ, U.K
| | | | - Pedro H S Brancalion
- Department of Forest Sciences, Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture, University of São Paulo, Piracicaba, SP, 13.418-900, Brazil
| | - Pete Smith
- Institute of Biological & Environmental Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, AB24 3UU, U.K
| | - David P Edwards
- Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, School of Biosciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, S10 2TN, U.K
| | - Andrew Balmford
- Conservation Science Group, Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 3EJ, U.K
| |
Collapse
|