Applying plant-pollinator network to identify priority species for conservation in a biodiversity hotspot

Author(s)

Monteiro, Beatriz Lopes ; Souza, Camila Silveira ; Maruyama, Pietro K. ; Camargo, Maria Gabriela Gutierrez ; Morellato, Leonor Patricia Cerdeira

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: Biological Conservation; v. 302, p. 9-pg., 2025-01-16.

Abstract

Biotic pollination is a key ecosystem function, as 85 % of all Angiosperms depend on interactions with animals for reproduction. Anthropogenic impacts have caused a decrease in biodiversity, affecting species interactions and their conservation. Initiatives to evaluate species' conservation value usually do not consider the species interactions organized in a nonrandom pattern. Here we used network approaches to evaluate the role of endemic and/or threatened species in plant-pollinator interactions from a highly diverse and endangered tropical mountain grassland ecosystem, the campo rupestre. We asked how the mutualistic interactions are organized, which are the main species structuring the network, and whether endemic and/or threatened species are among the main species structuring the mutualistic interactions. The plant-pollinator network had 481 species performing 1264 interactions. Twenty species are under threat and 42 are endemic. Through the categorization of species according to modularity roles and core-periphery status in the network, we created a conservation priority list with nine plant and pollinator species. Endemic plants, the native bumblebee Bombus pauloensis, and small and short-tongued bees, as well as hummingbirds, were identified as crucial for network cohesiveness. The introduced honeybee Apis mellifera emerged as an important species through network analysis, and its role in the community dynamic deserves further investigation. Our study illustrates the usefulness of network approaches in combination with ancillary data, such as species threat status and endemism, to guide conservation efforts in highly biodiverse and threatened tropical ecosystems. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 09/54208-6 - Multi-User Centralized Laboratory at the São Paulo State University Center for Biodiversity Studies
• Grantee: Célio Fernando Baptista Haddad
• Support Opportunities: Multi-user Equipment Program
• FAPESP's process: 13/50155-0 - Combining new technologies to monitor phenology from leaves to ecosystems
• Grantee: Leonor Patricia Cerdeira Morellato
• Support Opportunities: Research Program on Global Climate Change - University-Industry Cooperative Research (PITE)
• FAPESP's process: 15/10754-8 - Spatio-temporal variations in the flower-color spectra according to the pollinators' visual systems
• Grantee: Maria Gabriela Gutierrez de Camargo
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• FAPESP's process: 24/01806-3 - Reproductive traits and the evolution of the campo rupestre flora
• Grantee: Beatriz Lopes Monteiro
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• FAPESP's process: 18/21646-0 - Ecological relationships in time and space: flower signal standardization in congeneric species
• Grantee: Maria Gabriela Gutierrez de Camargo
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Post-doctor
• FAPESP's process: 21/10639-5 - Center for Research on Biodiversity Dynamics and Climate Change
• Grantee: Leonor Patricia Cerdeira Morellato
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Research, Innovation and Dissemination Centers - RIDC
• FAPESP's process: 10/51307-0 - Floristic diversity and seasonal patterns of rupestrian fields and cerrado
• Grantee: Leonor Patricia Cerdeira Morellato
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Research Partnership for Technological Innovation - PITE