Seed‐dispersal interactions in fragmented landscapes – a metanetwork approach |
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Authors: | Carine Emer Mauro Galetti Marco A. Pizo Paulo R. Guimarães Jr. Suelen Moraes Augusto Piratelli Pedro Jordano |
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Affiliation: | 1. Departmento de Ecologia, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Estadual Paulista, Rio Claro – SP, Brazil;2. Integrative Ecology Group, Estación Biológica de Do?ana, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (EBD‐CSIC), Sevilla, Spain;3. Departmento de Zoologia, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Estadual Paulista, Rio Claro – SP, Brazil;4. Departamento de Ecologia, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de S?o Paulo, S?o Paulo – SP, Brazil;5. Departamento de Ciências Ambientais, Universidade Federal de S?o Carlos, Rodovia Jo?o Leme dos Santos, Sorocaba – SP, Brazil |
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Abstract: | Mutualistic interactions repeatedly preserved across fragmented landscapes can scale‐up to form a spatial metanetwork describing the distribution of interactions across patches. We explored the structure of a bird seed‐dispersal (BSD) metanetwork in 16 Neotropical forest fragments to test whether a distinct subset of BSD‐interactions may mediate landscape functional connectivity. The metanetwork is interaction‐rich, modular and poorly connected, showing high beta‐diversity and turnover of species and interactions. Interactions involving large‐sized species were lost in fragments < 10 000 ha, indicating a strong filtering by habitat fragmentation on the functional diversity of BSD‐interactions. Persistent interactions were performed by small‐seeded, fast growing plant species and by generalist, small‐bodied bird species able to cross the fragmented landscape. This reduced subset of interactions forms the metanetwork components persisting to defaunation and fragmentation, and may generate long‐term deficits of carbon storage while delaying forest regeneration at the landscape level. |
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Keywords: | Atlantic Forest avian seed‐dispersal interactions beta‐diversity of interactions defaunation ecological functions habitat fragmentation interaction centrality meta‐community mobile links tropical conservation |
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