Relative importance of phenotypic trait matching and species' abundances in determining plant-avian seed dispersal interactions in a small insular community
Network theory has provided a general way to understand mutualistic plant–animal interactions at the communitylevel.However,themechanismsresponsibleforinteractionpatternsremaincontroversial. Inthisstudywe use a combination of statistical models and probability matrices to evaluate the relative impor...
| Autores: | , , , |
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| Tipo de recurso: | artículo |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2015 |
| País: | España |
| Institución: | Universidad de La Laguna (ULL) |
| Repositorio: | RIULL. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de La Laguna |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:riull.ull.es:915/40647 |
| Acceso en línea: | http://riull.ull.es/xmlui/handle/915/40647 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | Dispersal frugivory mutualistic networks oceanic islands probability matrices |
| Sumario: | Network theory has provided a general way to understand mutualistic plant–animal interactions at the communitylevel.However,themechanismsresponsibleforinteractionpatternsremaincontroversial. Inthisstudywe use a combination of statistical models and probability matrices to evaluate the relative importance of species morphological and nutritional (phenotypic) traits and species abundance in determining interactions between fleshyfruited plants and birds that disperse their seeds. The models included variables associated with species abundance, asuite of variables associated with phenotypic traits (fruit diameter, bird bill width, fruit nutrient compounds), and the species identity of the avian disperser. Results show that both phenotypic traits and species abundance are important determinants of pairwise interactions. However, when considered separately, fruit diameter and bill width were more important in determining seed dispersal interactions. The effect of fruit compounds was less substantial and only important when considered together with abundance-related variables and/or the factor ‘animal species’. |
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