Mutualistic networks in space and time: A story of trait matching and dispersal

GILARRANZ, LUIS J.; MELIÁN, CARLOS; SABATINO, MALENA; AIZEN, MARCELO

New Orleans, Louisiana

Encuentro; ESA Anual Meeting 2018; 2018

Ecological Society of America

Competition, dispersal limitation, abundance of resources, evolutionary and ecological dynamics, and stochasticity, all are factors that may affect the distribution of species and interactions. In particular, habitat fragmentation can drive the direct extinction not only of species but also of the interspecific interactions that shape the web of life. In turn, interaction loss causes the disruption of diverse ecological processes, which can further affect both short-term species survivorship and long-term evolutionary change.Results/ConclusionsA decrease in phylogenetic signal and co-phylogenetic correspondence in plant-pollinator interactions could be associated with less reliable mutualism and erratic co-evolutionary change. We observe that phylogenetic signal and overall co-phylogenetic congruence increased independently with patch size and isolation. To further explore the relative importance of the aforementioned factors, we develop an eco-evolutionary, spatially-explicit model that translates trait-matching into population dynamics that successfully reproduces the patterns observed in the field.