Interaction frequency as a surrogate for the total effect of animal mutualists on plants

Author

Diego P. Vázquez, William F. Morris, Pedro Jordano

Published

September 8, 2005

Doi

10.1111/j.1461-0248.2005.00810.x

Diego P. Vázquez, William F. Morris, Pedro Jordano 2005. Interaction frequency as a surrogate for the total effect of animal mutualists on plants. Ecology Letters 8: 1088–1094. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1461-0248.2005.00810.x

Publication Details

Published in: Ecology Letters  Open Access: Yes

BibTeX

@article{RN23767,
   author = {Vazquez, D P and Morris, W F and Jordano, Pedro},
   title = {Interaction frequency as a surrogate for the total effect of animal mutualists on plants},
   journal = {Ecology Letters},
   volume = {8},
   pages = {1088–1094},
   abstract = {We evaluate whether species interaction frequency can be used as a surrogate for the total effect of a species on another. Because interaction frequency is easier to estimate than per-interaction effect, using interaction frequency as a surrogate of total effect could facilitate the large-scale analysis of quantitative patterns of species-rich interaction networks. We show mathematically that the correlation between interaction frequency (I) and total effect (T) becomes more strongly positive the greater the variation of I relative to the variation of per-interaction effect (P) and the greater the correlation between I and P. A meta-analysis using data on I, P and T for animal pollinators and seed dispersers visiting plants shows a generally strong, positive relationship between T and I, in spite of no general relationship between P and I. Thus, frequent animal mutualists usually contribute the most to plant reproduction, regardless of their effectiveness on a per-interaction basis.},
   keywords = {Pollination
Seed Dispersal
Mutualism
Patterns
Pollen Limitation
Abundance
Body-Size
Trophic Interactions
Food-Web
Population
Plant-Animal Interactions
Interaction Strength
Capita Interaction Strength
Plant Reproduction
Effectiveness
Interaction Networks
Interaction Frequency
Quantity Component},
   DOI = {10.1111/j.1461-0248.2005.00810.x},
   year = {2005},
   type = {Journal Article}
}