The frugivory network between birds and plants in a Neotropical periurban park

Ruelas Inzunza, Ernesto

doi:10.5061/dryad.12jm63xv6

2020

DOI: 10.5061/dryad.12jm63xv6

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The frugivory network between birds and plants in a Neotropical periurban park

Ernesto Ruelas Inzunza

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Cited by 2 publications

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The frugivory network properties of a simplified ecosystem: Birds and plants in a Neotropical periurban park

Salazar-Rivera

Dáttilo

Castillo‐Campos

et al. 2020

Ecology and Evolution

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Frugivory networks exhibit a set of properties characterized by a number of network theory‐derived metrics. Their structures often form deterministic patterns that can be explained by the functional roles of interacting species. Although we know lots about how these networks are organized when ecosystems are in a complete, functional condition, we know much less about how incomplete and simplified networks (such as those found in urban and periurban parks) are organized, which features are maintained, which ones are not, and why. In this paper, we examine the properties of a network between frugivorous birds and plants in a small Neotropical periurban park. We found a frugivory network composed of 29 species of birds and 23 of plants. The main roles in this network are played by four species of generalist birds (three resident, one migratory: Myiozetetes similis, Turdus grayi, Chlorospingus flavopectus, and Dumetella carolinensis) and three species of plants (one exotic, two early successional: Phoenix canariensis, Phoradendron sp., and Witheringia stramoniifolia). When compared to reference data from other locations in the Neotropics, species richness is low, one important network‐level metric is maintained (modularity) whereas another one is not (nestedness). Nestedness, a metric associated with network specialists, is a feature this network lacks. Species‐level metrics such as degree, species strength, and module roles, are not maintained. Our work supports modularity as the most pervasive network‐level metric of altered habitats. From a successional point of view, our results suggest that properties revealed by species‐level indices may be developed at a later time, lagging the acquisition of structural elements.

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The frugivory network properties of a simplified ecosystem: Birds and plants in a Neotropical periurban park

Salazar-Rivera

Dáttilo

Castillo‐Campos

et al. 2020

Ecology and Evolution

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In a Neotropical Periurban Park, Fruit Consumption by Birds Seems to Be a Random Process

2021

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Frugivory interactions between birds and fruit-bearing plants are shaped by the abundance of its interacting species, their temporal overlap, the matching of their morphologies, as well as fruit and seed characteristics. Our study evaluates the role of seven factors of fruits and plants in determining the frequency of whole-fruit consumption by birds. We studied the frugivory network of a Neotropical periurban park in Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico, and quantified relative abundance and phenology of birds and fruit, as well as fruit morphology, chromatic and achromatic contrast, and nutritional content. Using a maximum likelihood approach, we compared the observed interaction network with 62 single- and multiple-variable probabilistic models. Our network is composed of 11 plants and 17 birds involved in 81 frugivory interactions. This network is nested, modular, and relatively specialized. However, the frequency of pairwise interactions is not explained by the variables examined in our probabilistic models and found the null model has the best performance. This indicates that no single predictor or combination of them is better at explaining the observed frequency of pairwise interactions than the null model. The subsequent four top-ranking models, with ΔAIC values < 100, are single-variable ones: carbohydrate content, lipid content, chromatic contrast, and morphology. Two- and three-variable models show the poorest fit to observed data. The lack of a deterministic pattern does not support any of our predictions nor neutral- or niche-based processes shaping the observed pattern of fruit consumption in our interaction network. It may also mean that fruit consumption by birds in this periurban park is a random process. Although our study failed to find a pattern, our work exemplifies how investigations done in urban settings, poor in species and interactions, can help us understand the role of disturbance in the organization of frugivory networks and the processes governing their structure.

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The frugivory network between birds and plants in a Neotropical periurban park

Cited by 2 publications

References 2 publications

The frugivory network properties of a simplified ecosystem: Birds and plants in a Neotropical periurban park

The frugivory network properties of a simplified ecosystem: Birds and plants in a Neotropical periurban park

In a Neotropical Periurban Park, Fruit Consumption by Birds Seems to Be a Random Process

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