Evaluating multiple determinants of the structure of plant–animal mutualistic networks

Vázquez, Diego P.; Chacoff, Natacha P.; Cagnolo, Luciano

doi:10.1890/08-1837.1

Cited by 359 publications

(594 citation statements)

References 28 publications

(32 reference statements)

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“…The use of appropriate null models is a way to disentangle if the processes structuring the observed networks are mostly mathematical or biological (e.g. Araujo, de Almeida, Cardoso, & Corso 2010;Vázquez, Chacoff, & Cagnolo 2009;Vázquez et al 2007;Vázquez & Aizen 2004). These analyses surpass the scope of this study but are crucial if one wants descriptors that mirror true biological patterns.…”

Section: Network Propertiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sampling completeness in seed dispersal networks: When enough is enough

Costa

Silva

Ramos

et al. 2016

Basic and Applied Ecology

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Ecological networks are an increasingly popular tool to explore community assembly rules and frame practical conservation issues. However, most described networks vary largely in sampling effort, hampering the distinction of true biological patterns from artefacts caused by poor sampling. Identifying entire seeds in the droppings of mist-netted birds is generally considered a preferred sampling method for building unbiased, quantitative seed dispersal networks. We retrieved seeds from the droppings of 936 mist-netted birds captured during five days in seven sites in Portugal and estimated sampling completeness as the diversity of seed species, disperser species, and links detected with respect to those predicted by Chao 2 estimator. In one of those sites, sampling effort was extended to 25 days to evaluate the sensitivity of ten network structure descriptors to increasing sampling effort. After five sampling days we detected 93% of the seed species, 97% of the disperser species, and 79% of the links predicted by Chao 2, however sampling for 25 days resulted in the detection of more seeds, dispersers, and links than those estimated at day 5. Most network descriptors only began to stabilize around day 8, except for Connectance and Weighted Connectance that stabilized earlier. Similarly, only after 8 days most networks descriptors significantly departed from the confidence interval estimated by null models exclusively constrained by species abundances, thus reflecting independent ecological patterns. Nestedness was the only exception, as it never departed from the null models. We suggest that Chao 2 may slightly underestimate the real diversity and that in our case at least eight sampling days were needed to build a sound seed dispersal network as 67% of the seeds, 88% of the dispersers, and 71% of the links were detected. Our results have important implications for the interpretation of seed dispersal networks because under-sampled networks may produce biased descriptors that do not suitably characterize the focal communities. ZusammenfassungÖkologische Netzwerke werden immer beliebter als eine Methode, um die 'assembly rules' für Gemeinschaften zu untersuchen und praktische Naturschutzregeln zu entwerfen.

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Section: Network Propertiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sampling completeness in seed dispersal networks: When enough is enough

Costa

Silva

Ramos

et al. 2016

Basic and Applied Ecology

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“…Individuals are the entities that are actually interacting, however, and as such their encounter rates, sensitive to habitat fragmentation, drive network structure (e.g. Petchey et al, 2010;Vázquez et al, 2009). For instance, flower abundance can account for much of the variation in linkage level of plants in pollination networks (Stang et al, 2006; but see Olesen et al, 2008).…”

Section: Body Size As a Driver Of Ecological Network Structurementioning

confidence: 99%

Biodiversity, Species Interactions and Ecological Networks in a Fragmented World

Hagen

Kissling

Rasmussen

et al. 2012

Advances in Ecological Research

364

352

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“…By comparing food web structure to phylogenetic signal, we may explore how interacting species coevolve (Nyman et al 2007(Nyman et al , 2015Vazquez et al 2009;Rafferty and Ives 2013;Fontaine and Thébault 2015). As another line of investigation, comparisons of food webs along sites of different glacial or geological history will help us understand the rules for how communities disassemble and reassemble over time (Stone et al 2012).…”

Section: Food Webs As the Defining Objects Of Community Ecologymentioning

confidence: 99%

The use of DNA barcodes in food web construction—terrestrial and aquatic ecologists unite!

Roslin

Majaneva

2016

Genome

105

103

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By depicting who eats whom, food webs offer descriptions of how groupings in nature (typically species or populations) are linked to each other. For asking questions on how food webs are built and work, we need descriptions of food webs at different levels of resolution. DNA techniques provide opportunities for highly resolved webs. In this paper, we offer an exposé of how DNA-based techniques, and DNA barcodes in particular, have recently been used to construct food web structure in both terrestrial and aquatic systems. We highlight how such techniques can be applied to simultaneously improve the taxonomic resolution of the nodes of the web (i.e., the species), and the links between them (i.e., who eats whom). We end by proposing how DNA barcodes and DNA information may allow new approaches to the construction of larger interaction webs, and overcome some hurdles to achieving adequate sample size. Most importantly, we propose that the joint adoption and development of these techniques may serve to unite approaches to food web studies in aquatic and terrestrial systems-revealing the extent to which food webs in these environments are structured similarly to or differently from each other, and how they are linked by dispersal.Key words: DNA barcodes, food webs, species delimitation, species identification, trophic links, ecological networks.Résumé : En brossant le tableau de qui mange qui, les réseaux trophiques livrent une description des liens qui unissent des groupes d'espèces ou de populations. Afin de déterminer comment ces réseaux sont constitués et comment ils fonctionnent, il nous faut une description de ces réseaux à différents niveaux de résolution. Les techniques de l'ADN permettent de produire des réseaux trophiques de grande résolution. Dans ce travail, les auteurs décrivent comment les techniques fondées sur l'ADN, en particulier les codes à barres de l'ADN, ont récemment été employées pour étudier la structure des réseaux trophiques chez des systèmes tant terrestres qu'aquatiques. Les auteurs soulignent comment ces techniques peuvent servir à simultanément améliorer la résolution taxonomique des noeuds d'un réseau (i.e. les espèces) ainsi que les relations entre eux (qui mange qui). Les auteurs terminent en proposant des moyens via lesquels les codes à barres et l'information tirée de l'ADN rendent possible de nouvelles approches en vue de la construction de plus grands réseaux d'interaction et permettent de surmonter des difficultés rencontrées dans l'acquisition d'échantillons de taille suffisante. Surtout, les auteurs proposent que l'adoption et le développement conjoints de ces techniques peut contribuer à unifier les approches employées dans l'étude des réseaux trophiques au sein des systèmes aquatiques et terrestres. Cela permettra de révéler l'étendue de la similarité ou de la dissimilarité dans la façon dont sont structurés les réseaux dans ces différents environnements et comment ils sont liés par la dispersion. [Traduit par la Rédaction]

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Evaluating multiple determinants of the structure of plant–animal mutualistic networks

Cited by 359 publications

References 28 publications

Sampling completeness in seed dispersal networks: When enough is enough

Sampling completeness in seed dispersal networks: When enough is enough

Biodiversity, Species Interactions and Ecological Networks in a Fragmented World

The use of DNA barcodes in food web construction—terrestrial and aquatic ecologists unite!

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