Plant diversity increases spatio‐temporal niche complementarity in plant‐pollinator interactions |
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| Authors: | Christine Venjakob Alexandra‐Maria Klein Anne Ebeling Teja Tscharntke Christoph Scherber |
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| Institution: | 1. Agroecology, DNPW, Georg‐August‐University G?ttingen, G?ttingen, Germany;2. Institute of Ecology, Ecosystem Functions, Leuphana University of Lüneburg, Lüneburg, Germany;3. Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources, Nature Conservation and Landscape Ecology, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany;4. Institute of Ecology, Friedrich‐Schiller‐University of Jena, Jena, Germany;5. Institute of Landscape Ecology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany |
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| Abstract: | Ongoing biodiversity decline impairs ecosystem processes, including pollination. Flower visitation, an important indicator of pollination services, is influenced by plant species richness. However, the spatio‐temporal responses of different pollinator groups to plant species richness have not yet been analyzed experimentally. Here, we used an experimental plant species richness gradient to analyze plant–pollinator interactions with an unprecedented spatio‐temporal resolution. We observed four pollinator functional groups (honeybees, bumblebees, solitary bees, and hoverflies) in experimental plots at three different vegetation strata between sunrise and sunset. Visits were modified by plant species richness interacting with time and space. Furthermore, the complementarity of pollinator functional groups in space and time was stronger in species‐rich mixtures. We conclude that high plant diversity should ensure stable pollination services, mediated via spatio‐temporal niche complementarity in flower visitation. |
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| Keywords: | Environmental niche floral resource use functional pollinator diversity generalized additive models Jena Experiment niche overlap |
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