Do the phylogenies of plants and their interacting pollinators predict the organization of interaction networks?

• Grant number: 12/22411-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Master's degree
• Start date: March 01, 2013
• End date: July 31, 2013
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Ecology - Theoretical Ecology
• Principal Investigator: Paulo Roberto Guimarães Junior
• Grantee: Kate Pereira Maia
• Supervisor: Jens M. Olesen
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Aarhus University, Denmark
• Associated to the scholarship: 11/15754-5 - Eusocial insects and the structure of pollination networks, BP.MS

Abstract

A central question in ecology is to understand which factors have the potential to determine the occurrence of species interactions. Species traits are known to have a great impact. The traits of a particular species are partially determined by their shared evolutionary history with similar traits of related species. The presence of similar traits could result in similar patterns of interaction between related species and thus overlap of interaction partners. In this project, we will investigate which parts of the shared evolutionary history of plants and their interacting pollinators are associated with these species' current interaction patterns in pollination networks. To do so, we will combine data on current plant-pollinator interactions with an ecological network approach and information about the evolutionary history of the species involved. The latter will be represented by species phylogeny. Based on plants and pollinators' phylogenies, we will create models in which related species will have similar probabilities of interaction with other species. Each model will be an interaction probability matrix that represent a hypothesis about a specific part of species phylogenies that might be associted with current interaction patterns between plants and pollinators. The method of maximum likelihood will be used to select which of the matrices can best reproduce the current interaction patterns between species. (AU)