Seed-dispersal networks are more specialized in the Neotropics than in the Afrotropics

Author(s):Show less -

Dugger, Phillip J. ^[1] ; Blendinger, Pedro G. ^[2] ; Boehning-Gaese, Katrin ^{[3, 4]} ; Chama, Lackson ^[5] ; Correia, Marta ^[6] ; Dehling, D. Matthias ^[7] ; Emer, Carine ^[8] ; Farwig, Nina ^[9] ; Fricke, Evan C. ^[10] ; Galetti, Mauro ^[8] ; Garcia, Daniel ^{[11, 12]} ; Grass, Ingo ^[13] ; Heleno, Ruben ^[6] ; Jacomassa, Fabio A. F. ^{[14, 15]} ; Moraes, Suelen ^[16] ; Moran, Catherine ^[17] ; Munoz, Marcia C. ^[18] ; Neuschulz, Eike Lena ^[3] ; Nowak, Larissa ^{[3, 4]} ; Piratelli, Augusto ^[16] ; Pizo, Marco A. ^[14] ; Quitian, Marta ^{[3, 4]} ; Rogers, Haldre S. ^[10] ; Ruggera, Roman A. ^[19] ; Saavedra, Francisco ^[20] ; Sanchez, Mariano S. ^{[21, 22]} ; Sanchez, Rocio ^[2] ; Santillan, Vinicio ^{[3, 4]} ; Schabo, Dana G. ^[9] ; da Silva, Fernanda Ribeiro ^[23] ; Timoteo, Sergio ^[6] ; Traveset, Anna ^[24] ; Vollstaedt, Maximilian G. R. ^[3] ; Schleuning, Matthias ^[3]

Affiliation:Show less -

^[1] Antioch Univ New England, Dept Environm Studies, Keene, NH - USA

^[2] Univ Nacl Tucuman, Consejo Nacl Invest Cient & Tecn, Inst Ecol Reg, Yerba Buena - Argentina

^[3] Senckenberg Biodivers & Climate Res Ctr SBiK F, Frankfurt - Germany

^[4] Goethe Univ, Inst Ecol Evolut & Divers, Frankfurt - Germany

^[5] Copperbelt Univ, Dept Zool & Aquat Sci, Sch Nat Resources, Kitwe - Zambia

^[6] Univ Coimbra, Dept Life Sci, Ctr Funct Ecol, Coimbra - Portugal

^[7] Univ Canterbury, Sch Biol Sci, Ctr Integrat Ecol, Christchurch - New Zealand

^[8] Univ Estadual Paulista, Dept Ecol, Inst Biociencias, Rio Claro - Brazil

^[9] Philipps Univ Marburg, Fac Biol, Marburg - Germany

^[10] Iowa State Univ, Dept Ecol Evolut & Organismal Biol, Ames, IA - USA

^[11] Univ Oviedo, Dept Biol Organismos & Sistemas, Oviedo - Spain

^[12] UO, CSIC, PA, Unidad Mixta Invest Biodiversidad, Oviedo - Spain

^[13] Univ Goettingen, Dept Crop Sci, Agroecol, Gottingen - Germany

^[14] Univ Estadual Paulista, Dept Zool, Rio Claro - Brazil

^[15] Univ Estadual Centro Oeste, Dept Ciencias Biol, Programa Posgrad Biol Evolut, Guarapuava - Brazil

^[16] Univ Fed Sao Carlos, CCTS, Dept Ciencias Ambientais, Sorocaba - Brazil

^[17] CSIRO, Atherton, Qld - Australia

^[18] Inst Invest Recursos Biol Alexander von Humboldt, Ave Circunvalar 16-20, Bogota - Colombia

^[19] UNJu, CONICET, INECOA, Fac Ciencias Agr, San Salvador De Jujuy - Argentina

^[20] Univ Mayor San Andres, Inst Ecolo, Herbario Nacl Bolivia, La Paz - Bolivia

^[21] Univ Nacl Misiones UNaM, CONICET, Consejo Nacl Invest Cient & Tecn, Inst Biol Subtrop IBS Nodo Posadas, Posadas - Argentina

^[22] Fac Ciencias Exactas, Lab Genet Evolut, Posadas - Argentina

^[23] Univ Estadual Campinas, Programa Posgrad Biol Vegetal, Campinas, SP - Brazil

^[24] UIB, CSIC, IMEDEA, Global Change Res Grp, Mediterranean Inst Adv Stud, Esporles - Spain

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND BIOGEOGRAPHY; v. 28, n. 2, p. 248-261, JAN 2019.
• Web of Science Citations: 3

Abstract

Aim Biogeographical comparisons of interaction networks help to elucidate differences in ecological communities and ecosystem functioning at large scales. Neotropical ecosystems have higher diversity and a different composition of frugivores and fleshy-fruited plants compared with Afrotropical systems, but a lack of intercontinental comparisons limits understanding of (a) whether plant-frugivore networks are structured in a similar manner, and (b) whether the same species traits define the roles of animals across continents. Location Afrotropics and Neotropics. Time period 1977-2015. Taxa Fleshy-fruited plants and frugivorous vertebrates. Methods We compiled a dataset comprising 17 Afrotropical and 48 Neotropical weighted seed-dispersal networks quantifying frugivory interactions between 1,091 fleshy-fruited plant and 665 animal species, comprising in total 8,251 interaction links between plants and animals. In addition, we compiled information on the body mass of animals and their degree of frugivory. We compared four standard network-level metrics related to interaction diversity and specialization, accounting for differences related to sampling effort and network location. Furthermore, we tested whether animal traits (body mass, degree of frugivory) differed between continents, whether these traits were related to the network roles of species and whether these relationships varied between continents. Results We found significant structural differences in networks between continents. Overall, Neotropical networks were less nested and more specialized than Afrotropical networks. At the species level, a higher body mass and degree of frugivory were associated with an increasing diversity of plant partners. Specialization of frugivores increased with the degree of frugivory, but only in the Neotropics. Main conclusions Our findings show that Afrotropical networks have a greater overlap in plant partners among vertebrate frugivores than the more diverse networks in the Neotropics that are characterized by a greater niche partitioning. Hence, the loss of frugivore species could have stronger impacts on ecosystem functioning in the more specialized Neotropical communities compared with the more generalized Afrotropical communities. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 10/52315-7 - Top predators of food chain
• Grantee: Pedro Manoel Galetti Junior
• Support Opportunities: BIOTA-FAPESP Program - Regular Research Grants
• FAPESP's process: 16/18355-8 - Evolutionary history of a plant-frugivore metanetwork in a defaunated tropical forest
• Grantee: Carine Emer
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Post-doctor
• FAPESP's process: 15/15172-7 - Effects of defaunation and introduction of exotic species on plant-seed dispersal interaction networks
• Grantee: Carine Emer
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral