Spatial structure of ant–plant mutualistic networks

Dáttilo, Wesley; Guimarães, Paulo R.; Izzo, Thiago J.

doi:10.1111/j.1600-0706.2013.00562.x

Cited by 146 publications

(159 citation statements)

References 47 publications

(63 reference statements)

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“…That close and distant networks were more and less similar than expected, respectively, implies that some kind of assortment of species and interactions is taking place in relation to distance. Although on a spatial scale two orders of magnitude smaller, other studies have found a similar decrease in similarity for species in ant-plant mutualistic networks [11] and for plant species and interactions in plant -pollinator networks [13]. Burkle & Alarcó n [10], however, found no correlation between geographical distance and the similarity in plants, pollinators or interactions along a 3 km gradient.…”

Section: Discussion (A) Community Similaritymentioning

confidence: 85%

“…nestedness, modularity and connectance) has usually been identified as stable [11,15,16,18,23]. None of these studies have quantified the fidelity of partner compositions, and here we suggest that it may be seen as a deeper fine-scaled layer contributing to our understanding of the dynamics of global network structures.…”

Section: (C) Partner Fidelitymentioning

confidence: 94%

“…among ecological networks) [9][10][11][12][13]. Here, we focus on plantpollinator interaction networks, where pollinator species are linked to the plant species from which they collect floral rewards.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Geographical variation in mutualistic networks: similarity, turnover and partner fidelity

et al. 2015

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Although species and their interactions in unison represent biodiversity and all the ecological and evolutionary processes associated with life, biotic interactions have, contrary to species, rarely been integrated into the concepts of spatial b-diversity. Here, we examine b-diversity of ecological networks by using pollination networks sampled across the Canary Islands. We show that adjacent and distant communities are more and less similar, respectively, in their composition of plants, pollinators and interactions than expected from random distributions. We further show that replacement of species is the major driver of interaction turnover and that this contribution increases with distance. Finally, we quantify that species-specific partner compositions (here called partner fidelity) deviate from random partner use, but vary as a result of ecological and geographical variables. In particular, breakdown of partner fidelity was facilitated by increasing geographical distance, changing abundances and changing linkage levels, but was not related to the geographical distribution of the species. This highlights the importance of space when comparing communities of interacting species and may stimulate a rethinking of the spatial interpretation of interaction networks. Moreover, geographical interaction dynamics and its causes are important in our efforts to anticipate effects of large-scale changes, such as anthropogenic disturbances.

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Section: Discussion (A) Community Similaritymentioning

confidence: 85%

Section: (C) Partner Fidelitymentioning

confidence: 94%

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Geographical variation in mutualistic networks: similarity, turnover and partner fidelity

et al. 2015

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“…In order not to overestimate the plant species with more number of flowers, we considered as interaction frequency only the interactions among individuals within transects. To test whether the composition of plants and wasps shifts along the core-periphery gradient of the networks in each area, we defined the core of generalist species according to Dáttilo et al (2013b). The species that exhibit a Cp > 1 are species with a higher proportion of interactions in relation to other species of the same group and are therefore considered core species of the network.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social Wasp-Flower Visiting Guild Interactions in Less Structurally Complex Habitats are More Susceptible to Local Extinction

Clemente¹,

Lange²,

Dáttilo³

et al. 2013

Sociobiology

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Several studies have shown that habitat complexity is an important factor for the dynamic and stability of interacting species. However, it is not known how the habitat complexity may affect the tolerance of wasp-flower interactions to local extinction. Based on this perspective, in this study, we aimed to compare the tolerance of wasp flower visiting guild to local extinction in two different types of vegetation (Riparian Forest and Rocky Grassland). Through observations made during one year, we verified that the structure of the plant-wasp interaction network differed between the two areas, as well as that the robustness to cumulative extinctions had different patterns. The simulations of cumulative removal of species showed that the network in the Riparian Forest is more robust against the removal of both plants and wasps than that network in Rocky Grassland, since their extinction curves declined more slowly. Therefore, in our study area, we demonstrate that social wasp-plant interactions in areas with lower structural complexity are less tolerant to extinction (i.e. more fragile). We therefore suggest that studies that aim at biodiversity conservation should focus not only in areas where diversity is high, but also in area with lower species richness for the conservation of ecological roles within communities.

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“…GUIMARÃES; IZZO, 2013;DÁTILLO;DEL-CLARO, 2013), coloca as plantas sobre uma enorme pressão evolutiva causada principalmente por herbívoros (MARQUIS; RICKLEFS; ABDALA-ROBERTS, 2012;THOMPSON, 2013), sendo a herbivoria considerada a interação antagonista de maior importância (STRAUSS; CONNER; RUSH, 1996, STRAUSS, 1997PRICE et al, 2011), já que pode comprometer diretamente o crescimento, a reprodução e a sobrevivência das plantas (TOREZAN-SILINGARDI, 2011). As plantas, por sua vez, desenvolveram estratégias de defesas químicas e físicas a fim de reduzir os danos e ataques causados por insetos (MARQUIS, 2012;.…”

Section: Introductionunclassified

Interação formiga-planta-polinizador em <i>Palicourea rigida </i>(Rubiaceae) no cerrado: quando a proteção contra a herbivoria impacta negativamente a ação dos polinizadores

Cardoso¹

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ao Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq), pelo suporte financeiro durante o período de desenvolvimento da dissertação; por fim, de todo coração e com toda a sinceridade, agradeço meus familiares, amigos, professores, à Universidade de São Paulo, à Universidade Federal de Uberlândia e todos que contribuíram direta ou indiretamente para que esse trabalho fosse desenvolvido.A todos vocês, muito obrigada.Antes o voo da ave, que passa e não deixa rastro, Que a passagem do animal, que fica lembrada no chão.A ave passa e esquece, e assim deve ser.O animal, onde já não está e por isso de nada serve, Mostra que já esteve, o que não serve para nada.A recordação é uma traição à Natureza, Porque a Natureza de ontem não é Natureza.O que foi não é nada, e lembrar não é ver. Extrafloral nectaries (EFNs) are glands that produce nectar not related to pollination and may be present in both vegetative and reproductive plant parts. These structures attract a great diversity of arthropods, mainly ants, which protect plants from herbivorous attack. In general, ant-plant interactions mediated by EFNs are positive, however, in some cases they may have negative effects, interfering directly in plant's fitness. From this perspective, our study aimed to evaluates whether the attraction of ants by an EFNs bearing plant, effectively protects the vegetable against herbivorous attack, but indirectly has anegative impact on pollination. We used as a model, Palicourea rigida (Rubiaceae), a common shrub in the Cerrado, that presents pericarpial nectaries (PNs -EFNs located in fruits). The main hypothesis of the work was that ants benefits P. rigida, reducing the action of foliar herbivores, but at the same time negatively interfere on its reproductive success by inhibiting the action of the main pollinators. The field work was developed between November 2016 and February 2017, in the ecological cerrado reserve of the Clube Caça e Pesca Itororó de Uberlândia, in Uberlândia city, Minas Gerais, Brazil. The results corroborated our main hypothesis, demonstrating that ants in fact protect the plant reducing the action of foliar herbivores and can, depending on the ant species, negatively interfere in fruit set, since they inhibit the action of the main pollinators -the hummingbirds.These results show that P. rigida has a complex system of interactions, involving ant-plantpollinator. This is the first study to evaluate the indirect costs of ant-plant mutualism on the fruit set of a plant pollinated by birds.

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Spatial structure of ant–plant mutualistic networks

Cited by 146 publications

References 47 publications

Geographical variation in mutualistic networks: similarity, turnover and partner fidelity

Geographical variation in mutualistic networks: similarity, turnover and partner fidelity

Social Wasp-Flower Visiting Guild Interactions in Less Structurally Complex Habitats are More Susceptible to Local Extinction

Interação formiga-planta-polinizador em <i>Palicourea rigida </i>(Rubiaceae) no cerrado: quando a proteção contra a herbivoria impacta negativamente a ação dos polinizadores

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