Interaction network structure explains species’ temporal persistence in empirical plant–pollinator communities

Evolutionary and ecological forces shape species coexistence, but how different ecological mechanisms drive coevolutionary dynamics remains poorly understood. Focusing on mutualistic communities, we explore how morphological and phenological trait matching can shape the coevolution of species traits, influence the evolutionary trajectories at the community level, and determine community stability. Usingin silicoexperiments, we first show that because phenological traits can decouple interactions in time, their coevolutionary dynamics led to the emergence of interaction motifs promoting facilitation over competition. In contrast, coevolution driven by morphological traits led to poorly structured networks with higher connectance. As a consequence, phenological coevolution increased the ecological stability of the community, relative to those coevolved based on morphology, and dampened the diversity-stability trade-off observed in morphologically coevolved communities. Next, by using 17 empirical pollination networks, we show that phenological motifs promoting facilitation were abundant in natural communities, and that as predicted by the theoretical models, the phenological structure in species interactions was a major determinant of the structural stability of these empirical communities. These results show that modelling explicitly the basic mechanisms determining species interactions is crucial to understand how species coevolve, and the ecological properties emerging at the community level, such as community structure and stability.

show abstract

Integrating intraspecific variation into population dynamics reveals how interacting species persist in mutualistic communities

Arroyo-Correa,

Bartomeus,

Jordano

et al. 2024

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Mutualistic interactions among organisms are fundamental to the origin and maintenance of biodiversity. Yet the study of community dynamics often relies on values averaged at the species level, ignoring how intraspecific variation can affect those dynamics. We propose a theoretical framework for evaluating the extent to which various forms of variation within populations can influence species' persistence in mutualistic systems. Next, drawing from detailed empirical data on plant-pollinator interactions and plant fitness, we quantify intraspecific variation in the mutualistic benefits received by plants and incorporate this variation into estimations of the community's structural stability, a robust theoretical measure of species' likelihood of persistence. Through explicit consideration of intraspecific variation, we are able to demonstrate that having different combinations of specialized and generalized individuals within plant populations promotes the persistence of pollinator communities. Further, we find that these heterogeneous mixtures of plant individuals reduce the probability of exclusion of focal plant species by promoting indirect effects across the broader plant-pollinator community. By providing a framework that explicitly accounts for individual-level variation, we open the door to a better understanding of the mechanisms promoting biodiversity in mutualistic communities and beyond.

show abstract

Interaction network structure explains species’ temporal persistence in empirical plant–pollinator communities

Cited by 3 publications

References 49 publications

Host–parasitoid trophic webs in complex agricultural systems

Host–parasitoid trophic webs in complex agricultural systems

Coevolution and temporal dynamics of species interactions shape species coexistence

Integrating intraspecific variation into population dynamics reveals how interacting species persist in mutualistic communities

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About