Journal
SCIENCE
Volume 335, Issue 6075, Pages 1486-1489Publisher
AMER ASSOC ADVANCEMENT SCIENCE
DOI: 10.1126/science.1215320
Keywords
-
Categories
Funding
- National Institute of Agricultural Technology (INTA), Balcarce [PNECO1302]
- Argentina National Research Council (CONICET) [PIP 01623]
- National Fund for Research [PICT 01300]
- National University of Comahue [B152/04]
- Rutherford Discovery Fellowship
Ask authors/readers for more resources
The loss of interactions from mutualistic networks could foreshadow both plant and animal species extinctions. Yet, the characteristics of interactions that predispose them to disruption are largely unknown. We analyzed 12 pollination webs from isolated hills (sierras), in Argentina, ranging from tens to thousands of hectares. We found evidence of nonrandom loss of interactions with decreasing sierra size. Low interaction frequency and high specialization between interacting partners contributed additively to increase the vulnerability of interactions to disruption. Interactions between generalists in the largest sierras were ubiquitous across sierras, but many of them lost their central structural role in the smallest sierras. Thus, particular configurations of interaction networks, along with unique ecological relations and evolutionary pathways, could be lost forever after habitat reduction.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available