Asymmetric Coevolutionary Networks Facilitate Biodiversity Maintenance

Author

Jordi Bascompte, Pedro Jordano, Jens M. Olesen

Published

April 21, 2006

Doi

10.1126/science.1123412

Jordi Bascompte, Pedro Jordano, Jens M. Olesen 2006. Asymmetric Coevolutionary Networks Facilitate Biodiversity Maintenance. Science 312: 431–433. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1123412

Publication Details

Published in: Science  Open Access: Yes

BibTeX

@article{RN57991,
   author = {Bascompte, Jordi and Jordano, Pedro and Olesen, Jens M},
   title = {Asymetric coevolutionary networks facilitate biodiversity maintenance},
   journal = {Science},
   volume = {312},
   pages = {431–433},
   abstract = {The mutualistic interactions between plants and their pollinators or seed dispersers have played a major role in the maintenance of Earth's biodiversity. To investigate how coevolutionary interactions are shaped within species-rich communities, we characterized the architecture of an array of quantitative, mutualistic networks spanning a broad geographic range. These coevolutionary networks are highly asymmetric, so that if a plant species depends strongly on an animal species, the animal depends weakly on the plant. By using a simple dynamical model, we showed that asymmetries inherent in coevolutionary networks may enhance long-term coexistence and facilitate biodiversity maintenance.},
   keywords = {Animals
Biodiversity
Biological
Biological Evolution
Ecosystem
Mathematics
Models
Plant Physiological Phenomena
Pollen
Symbiosis},
   ISSN = {1095-9203},
   DOI = {10.1126/science.1123412},
   year = {2006},
   type = {Journal Article}
}