Invariant properties in coevolutionary networks of plant-animal interactions
TLDR
This work hypothesizes that plant–animal mutualistic networks follow a build-up process similar to complex abiotic nets, based on the preferential attachment of species, and reveals generalized topological patterns characteristic of self-organized complex systems.Abstract:
Plant–animal mutualistic networks are interaction webs consisting of two sets of entities, plant and animal species, whose evolutionary dynamics are deeply influenced by the outcomes of the interactions, yielding a diverse array of coevolutionary processes. These networks are two-mode networks sharing many common properties with others such as food webs, social, and abiotic networks. Here we describe generalized patterns in the topology of 29 plant–pollinator and 24 plant–frugivore networks in natural communities. Scale-free properties have been described for a number of biological, social, and abiotic networks; in contrast, most of the plant–animal mutualistic networks (65.6%) show species connectivity distributions (number of links per species) with a power-law regime but decaying as a marked cut-off, i.e. truncated power-law or broad-scale networks and few (22.2%) show scale-invariance. We hypothesize that plant–animal mutualistic networks follow a build-up process similar to complex abiotic nets, based on the preferential attachment of species. However, constraints in the addition of links such as morphological mismatching or phenological uncoupling between mutualistic partners, restrict the number of interactions established, causing deviations from scale-invariance. This reveals generalized topological patterns characteristic of self-organized complex systems. Relative to scale-invariant networks, such constraints may confer higher robustness to the loss of keystone species that are the backbone of these webs.read more
Citations
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The Structure and Function of Complex Networks
TL;DR: Developments in this field are reviewed, including such concepts as the small-world effect, degree distributions, clustering, network correlations, random graph models, models of network growth and preferential attachment, and dynamical processes taking place on networks.
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The nested assembly of plant-animal mutualistic networks
TL;DR: It is shown that mutualistic networks are highly nested; that is, the more specialist species interact only with proper subsets of those species interacting with the more generalists, which generates highly asymmetrical interactions and organizes the community cohesively around a central core of interactions.
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The modularity of pollination networks.
TL;DR: If these key species go extinct, modules and networks may break apart and initiate cascades of extinction, Thus, species serving as hubs and connectors should receive high conservation priorities.
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Approaching a state shift in Earth’s biosphere
Anthony D. Barnosky,Elizabeth A. Hadly,Jordi Bascompte,Eric L. Berlow,James H. Brown,Mikael Fortelius,Wayne M. Getz,John Harte,Alan Hastings,Pablo A. Marquet,Neo D. Martinez,Arne Ø. Mooers,Peter D. Roopnarine,Geerat J. Vermeij,John W. Williams,Rosemary G. Gillespie,Justin Kitzes,Charles R. Marshall,Nicholas J. Matzke,David P. Mindell,Eloy Revilla,Adam B. Smith +21 more
TL;DR: Evidence that the global ecosystem as a whole is approaching a planetary-scale critical transition as a result of human influence is reviewed, highlighting the need to improve biological forecasting by detecting early warning signs of critical transitions.
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A consistent metric for nestedness analysis in ecological systems: reconciling concept and measurement
TL;DR: In this article, a new metric for measuring nestedness in metacommunities is proposed, which is based on whether marginal totals (i.e., fills) differ among columns and/or among rows, and whether the presences (1's) in less-filled columns and rows coincide, respectively, with those found in more-filled rows.
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