Multispecies interactions across trophic levels at macroscales: retrospective and future directions

Kissling, W. Daniel; Schleuning, Matthias

doi:10.1111/ecog.00819

Cited by 77 publications

(89 citation statements)

References 102 publications

(202 reference statements)

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“…The generality of trait matching is the base for predicting unknown interactions from species' functional traits in novel ecological communities (Kissling and Schleuning 2015), for instance as a result of species' migrations and local extinctions in response to climate change. The generality of trait matching is the base for predicting unknown interactions from species' functional traits in novel ecological communities (Kissling and Schleuning 2015), for instance as a result of species' migrations and local extinctions in response to climate change.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Knowledge about trait matching rules that govern the interactions between resource and consumer species can be used to make projections about which pairs of species are likely to interact in current or potential future communities (Morales-Castilla et al 2015, Bartomeus et al 2016). The first step towards such projections is to identify general interaction rules based on matching traits across interaction networks sampled at different localities (Kissling and Schleuning 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Morphological trait matching shapes plant–frugivore networks across the Andes

et al. 2018

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Interactions between resource and consumer species are organized in ecological networks. Species interactions in these networks are influenced by the functional traits of the interacting partners, but the generality of trait-based interaction rules and the relationship between functional traits and a species' specialization on specific interaction partners are not yet understood. Here we combine data on eight interaction networks between fleshy-fruited plants and frugivorous birds sampled across the tropical and subtropical Andean range. We test which combinations of morphological plant and animal traits determine trait matching between resource and consumer species in these networks. In addition, we test which of the morphological traits influence functional specialization of plant and bird species. In a meta-analysis across network-specific fourth-corner analyses, we found that plant-animal trait pairs related to size matching (fruit size-beak size) and avian foraging behavior (plant height-wing shape and crop mass-body mass) were positively related in these networks. The degree of functional specialization on specific interaction partners was positively related to crop mass in plants and to the pointedness of the wing in birds. Our findings show that morphological trait matching between fleshy-fruited plants and frugivorous birds is a general phenomenon in plant-frugivore networks across the Andes and that specific plant and bird traits can be used to approximate the degree of functional specialization. These insights into the generality of interaction rules are the base for predictions of species interactions in ecological networks, for instance in novel communities in the future, and can be applied to identify plant and animal species that fulfill specialized functional roles in ecological communities.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Morphological trait matching shapes plant–frugivore networks across the Andes

et al. 2018

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“…the number of partners) (Rezende et al . ; Kissling & Schleuning ) and species position within network modules (Schleuning et al . ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Functionally specialised birds respond flexibly to seasonal changes in fruit availability

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Kissling

Böhning‐Gaese

et al. 2017

Journal of Animal Ecology

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Interactions between resource and consumer species result in complex ecological networks. The overall structure of these networks is often stable in space and time, but little is known about the temporal stability of the functional roles of consumer species in these networks. We used a trait-based approach to investigate whether consumers (frugivorous birds) show similar degrees of functional specialisation on resources (plants) in ecological networks across seasons. We additionally tested whether closely related bird species have similar degrees of functional specialisation and whether birds that are functionally specialised on specific resource types within a season are flexible in switching to other resource types in other seasons. We analysed four seasonal replicates of two species-rich plant-frugivore networks from the tropical Andes. To quantify fruit preferences of frugivorous birds, we projected their interactions with plants into a multidimensional plant trait space. To measure functional specialisation of birds, we calculated a species' functional niche breadth (the extent of seasonal plant trait space utilised by a particular bird) and functional originality (the extent to which a bird species' fruit preference functionally differs from those of other species in a seasonal network). We additionally calculated functional flexibility, i.e. the ability of bird species to change their fruit preference across seasons in response to variation in plant resources. Functional specialisation of bird species varied more among species than across seasons, and phylogenetically similar bird species showed similar degrees of functional niche breadth (phylogenetic signal λ = 0·81) and functional originality (λ = 0·89). Additionally, we found that birds with high functional flexibility across seasons had narrow functional niche breadth and high functional originality per season, suggesting that birds that are seasonally specialised on particular resources are most flexible in switching to other fruit resources across seasons. The high flexibility of functionally specialised bird species to switch seasonally to other resources challenges the view that consumer species rely on functionally similar resources throughout the year. This flexibility of consumer species may be an important, but widely neglected mechanism that could potentially stabilise consumer-resource networks in response to human disturbance and environmental change.

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“…To date, no consensus on the best practice for comparative analyses of species interaction networks has been achieved. These analytical differences may affect the interpretation of geographical patterns of network-derived metrics, such as the latitudinal specialization gradient (Ollerton and Cranmer 2002, Rivera-Hutinel et al 2012, Kissling and Schleuning 2015, Fründ et al 2016, Vizentin-Bugoni et al 2016. These analytical differences may affect the interpretation of geographical patterns of network-derived metrics, such as the latitudinal specialization gradient (Ollerton and Cranmer 2002, Rivera-Hutinel et al 2012, Kissling and Schleuning 2015, Fründ et al 2016, Vizentin-Bugoni et al 2016.…”

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Opposed latitudinal patterns of network‐derived and dietary specialization in avian plant–frugivore interaction systems

et al. 2017

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Latitudinal patterns of biodiversity have been studied for centuries, but it is only during the last decades that species interaction networks have been used to examine the proposed latitudinal gradient of biotic specialization. These studies have given idiosyncratic results, which may either be because of genuine biological differences between systems, different concepts and scales used to quantify biotic specialization or because the methodological approaches used to compare interaction networks were inappropriate. Here we carefully examine the latitudinal specialization gradient using a global dataset of avian plant–frugivore assemblages and interaction networks. In particular, we test whether network‐derived specialization patterns differ from patterns based on assemblage‐level information on avian dietary preferences on specific food types. We found that network‐derived measures of specialization (complementary specialization H2′ and < d’>, modularity Q) increased with latitude, i.e. frugivorous birds divide the niche of fruiting plants most finely at high latitudes where they also formed more modular interaction networks than at tropical latitudes. However, the strength and significance of the relationship between specialization metrics and latitude was influenced by the methodological approach. On the other hand, assemblage‐level information on avian specialization on fruit diet (i.e. the proportion of obligate frugivorous bird species feeding primarily on fruit) revealed an opposed latitudinal pattern as more bird species were specialized on fruit diet in tropical than in temperate assemblages. This difference in the latitudinal specialization gradient reflects that obligate frugivores require a high diversity of fruit plants, as observed in tropical systems, and fulfil more generalized roles in plant–frugivore networks than bird species feeding on different food types. Future research should focus on revealing the underlying ecological, historical and evolutionary mechanisms shaping these patterns. Our results highlight the necessity of comparing different scales of biotic specialization for a better understanding of geographical patterns of specialization in resource–consumer interactions.

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Multispecies interactions across trophic levels at macroscales: retrospective and future directions

Cited by 77 publications

References 102 publications

Morphological trait matching shapes plant–frugivore networks across the Andes

Morphological trait matching shapes plant–frugivore networks across the Andes

Functionally specialised birds respond flexibly to seasonal changes in fruit availability

Opposed latitudinal patterns of network‐derived and dietary specialization in avian plant–frugivore interaction systems

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