Phenological traits foster persistence of mutualistic networks by promoting facilitation

Duchenne, François; Fontaine, Colin; Teulière, Elsa; Thébault, Élisa

doi:10.1111/ele.13836

Cited by 11 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 63 publications

(80 reference statements)

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“…Our results provide support of the positive effect of the seasonal structure on mutualistic network persistence, resilience and feasibility. We extended previous theoretical findings, which were obtained on simulated seasonal structures [ 15 , 17 ], by using the empirical seasonal structure from 11 sampled plant–hummingbird communities. Assuming that species compete for mutualistic partners, we find that when mutualism strength is strong enough to support viable species populations, seasonal structure of interactions enhances network persistence and resilience, allowing more diverse and resilient ecological equilibriums than without seasonal structure, while maintaining the network robustness and extending the feasibility domain.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 77%

“…This positive effect of seasonal structure on persistence comes from the fact that interactions are not all simultaneous but instead, spread across seasons. These temporal dynamics reduce competition and, at the same time, maintain facilitation among species that share common mutualistic partners at different points in time, resulting in increased network persistence [ 17 ]. However, evidence that seasonal structure increases overall network stability is still limited to theoretical work evaluating only one or two stability facets (persistence and resilience).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the real world evolutionary dynamics tend to optimize species fitness and not community persistence [ 18 ], hence there is no reason why evolutionary trajectories of species would lead to a seasonal structure that would favour network stability. Thus, additional work is needed to verify that the positive effects of the seasonal structure found in simulated ecological equilibriums [ 15 , 17 ] hold for (i) empirical seasonal structures, which are a result of evolutionary history, and (ii) for different facets of stability, which often provide opposing insights [ 12 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Seasonal structure of interactions enhances multidimensional stability of mutualistic networks

2022

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Community ecologists have made great advances in understanding how natural communities can be both diverse and stable by studying communities as interaction networks. However, focus has been on interaction networks aggregated over time, neglecting the consequences of the seasonal organization of interactions (hereafter 'seasonal structure') for community stability. Here, we extended previous theoretical findings on the topic in two ways: (i) by integrating empirical seasonal structure of 11 plant–hummingbird communities into dynamic models, and (ii) by tackling multiple facets of network stability together. We show that, in a competition context, seasonal structure enhances community stability by allowing diverse and resilient communities while preserving their robustness to species extinctions. The positive effects of empirical seasonal structure on network stability vanished when using randomized seasonal structures, suggesting that eco-evolutionary dynamics produce stabilizing seasonal structures. We also show that the effects of seasonal structure on community stability are mainly mediated by changes in network structure and productivity, suggesting that the seasonal structure of a community is an important and yet neglected aspect in the diversity–stability and diversity–productivity debates.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 77%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Seasonal structure of interactions enhances multidimensional stability of mutualistic networks

2022

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“…Assuming that there are not preempting processes (i.e. the amount of soil water, light, or food is not altered by earlier taxa), for our third parameterisation we considered that phenological mismatches decouple interactions in time, therefore decreasing net pairwise competition (Duchenne et al ., 2021). Thus, we incorporated phenological overlap to the resource overlap axis from the second parameterisation.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Non-random interactions within and across guilds shape the potential to coexist in multi-trophic ecological communities

García‐Callejas

Godoy

Buche

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Theory posits that the persistence of species in ecological communities is shaped by their interactions within and across trophic levels. However, we lack empirical evaluations of how the structure, strength and sign of these interactions drive the potential to coexist in diverse multi-trophic communities. Here we model community feasibility domains, a theoretically-informed measure of coexistence probability, from empirical data on communities comprising more than 50 species for three trophic guilds (plants, pollinators, and herbivores). Although feasibility domains vary depending on the number of trophic guilds considered, we show that higher network connectance leads to lower coexistence opportunities. Moreover, empirical estimations of the feasibility domains were higher with respect to random network structures but lower than a mean-field approach, suggesting that observed interaction structures tend to maximize coexistence within its imposed limits. Our results stress the importance of incorporating empirically-informed interaction structures within and across guilds to better understand how species coexist in diverse multi-trophic communities.

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“…Why have Moraceae plants become dominant in the riparian zone? That is the reciprocal selection on specific traits, and, eventually, the formation of coevolving taxa (e.g., [46]), because species morphological traits eliminate interspecific competition and promote diversity and mutualism, determining mutualistic networks [47], controlling ecosystem processes [48]. Specifically, the reproductive traits of the Moraceae species may be responsible for that due to the traits closely related to species' settlements and reproduction under the various stressed riparian environments.…”

Section: Characteristics Of the Structural Pattern Of Forests And Its...mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Synergy of Patterns vs. Processes at Community Level: A Key Linkage for Subtropical Native Forests along the Urban Riparian Zone

Wang

Shi

et al. 2022

Forests

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Riparian zones possesses unique ecological position with biota differing from aquatic body and terrestrial lands, and plant–animal coevolution through a propagule-dispersal process may be the main factor for the framework of riparian vegetation was proposed. In the current study, the riparian forests and avifauna along with three subtropical mountainous riparian belts of Chongqing, China, were investigated, and multivariate analysis technique was adopted to examine the associations among the plants’ and birds’ species. The results show that: (1) the forest species’ composition and vertical layers are dominated by native catkins of Moraceae species, which have the reproductive traits with small and numerous propagules facilitating by frugivorous bird species, revealing an evolutionary trend different from the one in the terrestrial plant climax communities in the subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forests. The traits may provide a biological base for the plant–bird coevolution; (2) there are significant associations of plant–bird species clusters, i.e., four plant–bird coevolution groups (PBs) were divided out according to the plant species’ dominance and growth form relating to the fruit-dispersing birds’ abundance; (3) the correlation intensity within a PB ranks as PB I > II > IV > III, indicating the PB I is the leading type of coevolution mainly shaped by the dominant plant species of Moraceae; (4) the PB correlation may be a key node between patterns vs. process of a riparian ecosystem responsible for the riparian native vegetation, or even the ecosystem health. Our results contribute understanding the plant–animal coevolution interpreting the forests’ structures in riparian environments. The results may also be used by urban planner and managers to simulate the patterns for restoring a more stable riparian biota, a better functioning ecosystem in subtropical zone.

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Phenological traits foster persistence of mutualistic networks by promoting facilitation

Cited by 11 publications

References 63 publications

Seasonal structure of interactions enhances multidimensional stability of mutualistic networks

Seasonal structure of interactions enhances multidimensional stability of mutualistic networks

Non-random interactions within and across guilds shape the potential to coexist in multi-trophic ecological communities

The Synergy of Patterns vs. Processes at Community Level: A Key Linkage for Subtropical Native Forests along the Urban Riparian Zone

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