INVESTIGADORES
SALVO Silvia Adriana
artículos
Título:
Forest Fragmentation Leads to Food Web Contraction
Autor/es:
VALLADARES, G. R.; CAGNOLO, L.; SALVO, A.
Revista:
OIKOS
Editorial:
WILEY-BLACKWELL PUBLISHING, INC
Referencias:
Año: 2012 vol. 121 p. 299 - 305
ISSN:
0030-1299
Resumen:
Fragmentation and loss of habitat are critical components of the global change currently threatening biodiversity and eco-
system functioning. We studied the effects of habitat loss through fragmentation on food web structure, by constructing
and analyzing plant-herbivore and host-parasitoid food webs including more than 400 species and over 120 000 feeding
records, in 19 Chaco Serrano remnants of differing areas. Food web structure was altered by habitat fragmentation, with
different metrics being affected depending on interaction type, and with all changes being driven by the reduced size of
networks in smaller fragments. Only connectance varied in both quantitative and qualitative analyses, being negatively
related to area. In addition, the interactions were represented by proper successive subsets, modulated mainly by resource
availability (plant?herbivore) or consumer specialization (host?parasitoid), as forest size decreased. The results suggest
that habitat loss has led to food web contraction around a central core of highly-connected species, for plant?herbivore as
well as for host?parasitoid systems. The study provides new insights into the effects of human perturbations on complex
biological systems.