Global and regional ecological boundaries explain abrupt spatial discontinuities in avian frugivory interactions

Type of content
Journal Article
Thesis discipline
Degree name
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Language
eng
Date
2022
Authors
Martins LP
Stouffer, Daniel
Blendinger PG
Böhning-Gaese K
Buitrón-Jurado G
Correia M
Costa JM
Dehling DM
Donatti CI
Emer C
Abstract

Species interactions can propagate disturbances across space via direct and indirect effects, potentially connecting species at a global scale. However, ecological and biogeographic boundaries may mitigate this spread by demarcating the limits of ecological networks. We tested whether large-scale ecological boundaries (ecoregions and biomes) and human disturbance gradients increase dissimilarity among plant-frugivore networks, while accounting for background spatial and elevational gradients and differences in network sampling. We assessed network dissimilarity patterns over a broad spatial scale, using 196 quantitative avian frugivory networks (encompassing 1496 plant and 1004 bird species) distributed across 67 ecoregions, 11 biomes, and 6 continents. We show that dissimilarities in species and interaction composition, but not network structure, are greater across ecoregion and biome boundaries and along different levels of human disturbance. Our findings indicate that biogeographic boundaries delineate the world’s biodiversity of interactions and likely contribute to mitigating the propagation of disturbances at large spatial scales.

Description
Citation
Martins LP, Stouffer DB, Blendinger PG, Böhning-Gaese K, Buitrón-Jurado G, Correia M, Costa JM, Dehling DM, Donatti CI, Emer C, Galetti M, Heleno R, Jordano P, Menezes Í, Morante-Filho JC, Muñoz MC, Neuschulz EL, Pizo MA, Quitián M, Ruggera RA, Saavedra F, Santillán V, Sanz D’Angelo V, Schleuning M, da Silva LP, Ribeiro da Silva F, Timóteo S, Traveset A, Vollstädt MGR, Tylianakis JM (2022). Global and regional ecological boundaries explain abrupt spatial discontinuities in avian frugivory interactions. Nature Communications. 13(1). 6943-.
Keywords
Animals, Birds, Humans, Plants, Ecosystem, Biodiversity
Ngā upoko tukutuku/Māori subject headings
ANZSRC fields of research
31 - Biological sciences::3103 - Ecology::310307 - Population ecology
31 - Biological sciences::3103 - Ecology::310302 - Community ecology (excl. invasive species ecology)
31 - Biological sciences::3104 - Evolutionary biology::310402 - Biogeography and phylogeography
41 - Environmental sciences::4104 - Environmental management::410401 - Conservation and biodiversity
Rights
All rights reserved unless otherwise stated