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Magrach A, Montoya D. Stability in plant-pollinator communities across organizational levels: present, gaps, and future. AOB PLANTS 2024; 16:plae026. [PMID: 38840783 PMCID: PMC11151922 DOI: 10.1093/aobpla/plae026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2023] [Accepted: 05/17/2024] [Indexed: 06/07/2024]
Abstract
Abstract. The study of ecological stability continues to fill the pages of scientific journals almost seven decades after the first ecologists initiated this line of research. The many advances in this field have focused on understanding the stability of populations, communities or functions within single guilds or trophic levels, with less research conducted across multiple trophic levels and considering the different interactions that relate species to each other. Here, we review the recent literature on the multiple dimensions of ecological stability specifically within plant-pollinator communities. We then focus on one of stability´s dimensions, temporal invariability, and adapt an existing partitioning framework that bridges invariability and synchrony measures across spatial scales and organizational levels to accommodate interactions between plants and their pollinators. Finally, we use this framework to analyse temporal invariability in plant reproductive success, partitioning it on invariability and synchrony components across plant and pollinator populations and communities, as well as their interactions, using a well-resolved dataset that encompasses data for two years. Our review of the literature points to several significant gaps in our current knowledge, with simulation studies clearly overrepresented in the literature as opposed to experimental or empirical approaches. Our quantitative approach to partitioning invariability shows similar patterns of decreasing temporal invariability across increasing organizational levels driven by asynchronous dynamics amongst populations and communities, which overall stabilize ecosystem functioning (plant reproductive success). This study represents a first step towards a better comprehension of temporal invariability in ecosystem functions defined by interactions between species and provides a blueprint for the type of spatially replicated multi-year data that needs to be collected in the future to further our understanding of ecological stability within multi-trophic communities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ainhoa Magrach
- Basque Centre for Climate Change (BC3), 48940 Leioa, Spain
- Ikerbasque, Basque Foundation for Science, 48011 Bilbao, Spain
| | - Daniel Montoya
- Basque Centre for Climate Change (BC3), 48940 Leioa, Spain
- Ikerbasque, Basque Foundation for Science, 48011 Bilbao, Spain
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Zhu C, Dalsgaard B, Li W, Gonçalves F, Vollstädt MGR, Ren P, Zhang X, Shao J, Ding P, Si X. Generalist and topologically central avian frugivores promote plant invasion unequally across land-bridge islands. Ecology 2024; 105:e4216. [PMID: 38037487 DOI: 10.1002/ecy.4216] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2023] [Revised: 08/26/2023] [Accepted: 10/20/2023] [Indexed: 12/02/2023]
Abstract
Seed dispersal by frugivorous birds facilitates plant invasions, but it is poorly known how invasive plants integrate into native communities in fragmented landscapes. We surveyed plant-frugivore interactions, including an invasive plant (Phytolacca americana), on 22 artificial land-bridge islands (fragmented forests) in the Thousand Island Lake, China. Focusing on frugivory interactions that may lead to seed dispersal, we built ecological networks of studied islands both at the local island (community) and at landscape (metacommunity) levels. On islands with P. americana, we found that P. americana impacted local avian frugivory networks more on islands with species-poor plant communities and on isolated islands. Moreover, as P. americana interacted mainly with local core birds (generalists), this indicates reduced seed dispersal of native plants on invaded islands. At the landscape level, P. americana had established strong interactions with generalist birds that largely maintain seed-dispersal functions across islands, as revealed by their topologically central roles both in the regional plant-bird trophic network and in the spatial metanetwork. This indicates that generalist frugivorous birds may have facilitated the dispersal of P. americana across islands, making P. americana well integrated into the plant-frugivore mutualistic metacommunity. Taken together, our study demonstrates that the impact of plant invasion is context-dependent and that generalist native frugivores with high dispersal potential may accelerate plant invasion in fragmented landscapes. These findings highlight the importance of taking the functional roles of animal mutualists and habitat fragmentation into account when managing plant invasions and their impact on native communities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chen Zhu
- MOE Key Laboratory of Biosystems Homeostasis and Protection, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Zhejiang, China
- Section for Molecular Ecology and Evolution, Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Bo Dalsgaard
- Section for Molecular Ecology and Evolution, Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Wande Li
- Zhejiang Zhoushan Archipelago Observation and Research Station, Institute of Eco-Chongming, Zhejiang Tiantong Forest Ecosystem National Observation and Research Station, School of Ecological and Environmental Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China
| | - Fernando Gonçalves
- Section for Molecular Ecology and Evolution, Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Maximilian G R Vollstädt
- Section for Molecular Ecology and Evolution, Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Peng Ren
- MOE Key Laboratory of Biosystems Homeostasis and Protection, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Zhejiang, China
| | - Xue Zhang
- MOE Key Laboratory of Biosystems Homeostasis and Protection, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Zhejiang, China
- Section for Molecular Ecology and Evolution, Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Junjie Shao
- MOE Key Laboratory of Biosystems Homeostasis and Protection, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Zhejiang, China
| | - Ping Ding
- MOE Key Laboratory of Biosystems Homeostasis and Protection, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Zhejiang, China
| | - Xingfeng Si
- Zhejiang Zhoushan Archipelago Observation and Research Station, Institute of Eco-Chongming, Zhejiang Tiantong Forest Ecosystem National Observation and Research Station, School of Ecological and Environmental Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China
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Gaynor KM. A big-headed problem drives an ecological chain reaction. Science 2024; 383:370-371. [PMID: 38271504 DOI: 10.1126/science.adn3484] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/27/2024]
Abstract
Disruption of key species interactions reverberates across an African savanna.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kaitlyn M Gaynor
- Departments of Zoology and Botany, The University of British Columbia (Musqueam) Territory, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada
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Torres A, Kuebbing SE, Stuble KL, Catella SA, Núñez MA, Rodriguez-Cabal MA. Inverse priority effects: A role for historical contingency during species losses. Ecol Lett 2024; 27:e14360. [PMID: 38183675 DOI: 10.1111/ele.14360] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/15/2022] [Revised: 11/21/2023] [Accepted: 11/24/2023] [Indexed: 01/08/2024]
Abstract
Communities worldwide are losing multiple species at an unprecedented rate, but how communities reassemble after these losses is often an open question. It is well established that the order and timing of species arrival during community assembly shapes forthcoming community composition and function. Yet, whether the order and timing of species losses can lead to divergent community trajectories remains largely unexplored. Here, we propose a novel framework that sets testable hypotheses on the effects of the order and timing of species losses-inverse priority effects-and suggests its integration into the study of community assembly. We propose that the order and timing of species losses within a community can generate alternative reassembly trajectories, and suggest mechanisms that may underlie these inverse priority effects. To formalize these concepts quantitatively, we used a three-species Lotka-Volterra competition model, enabling to investigate conditions in which the order of species losses can lead to divergent reassembly trajectories. The inverse priority effects framework proposed here promotes the systematic study of the dynamics of species losses from ecological communities, ultimately aimed to better understand community reassembly and guide management decisions in light of rapid global change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Agostina Torres
- Grupo de Ecología de Invasiones, INIBIOMA, Universidad Nacional del Comahue, CONICET, San Carlos de Bariloche, Río Negro, Argentina
| | - Sara E Kuebbing
- The Forest School at the Yale School of the Environment, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
| | | | - Samantha A Catella
- Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Martín A Núñez
- Grupo de Ecología de Invasiones, INIBIOMA, Universidad Nacional del Comahue, CONICET, San Carlos de Bariloche, Río Negro, Argentina
- Department of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Houston, Houston, Texas, USA
| | - Mariano A Rodriguez-Cabal
- Grupo de Ecología de Invasiones, INIBIOMA, Universidad Nacional del Comahue, CONICET, San Carlos de Bariloche, Río Negro, Argentina
- Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont, USA
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Potential distribution and conservation implications of key marsupials for the Patagonian temperate forest. Mamm Biol 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s42991-022-00322-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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