Missing and forbidden links in mutualistic networks

Author

Jens M. Olesen, Jordi Bascompte, Yoko Luise Dupont et al.

Published

September 15, 2010

Doi

10.1098/rspb.2010.1371

Jens M. Olesen, Jordi Bascompte, Yoko Luise Dupont et al 2011. Missing and forbidden links in mutualistic networks. Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences 278: 725–732. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2010.1371

Publication Details

Published in: Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences  Open Access: Yes

BibTeX

@article{RN57552,
   author = {Olesen, J. M. and Bascompte, J. and Dupont, Y. L. and Elberling, H. and Rasmussen, C. and Jordano, P.},
   title = {Missing and forbidden links in mutualistic networks},
   journal = {Proceedings of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences},
   volume = {278},
   number = {1706},
   pages = {725–732},
   note = {710jiTimes Cited:80Cited References Count:43},
   abstract = {Ecological networks are complexes of interacting species, but not all potential links among species are realized. Unobserved links are either missing or forbidden. Missing links exist, but require more sampling or alternative ways of detection to be verified. Forbidden links remain unobservable, irrespective of sampling effort. They are caused by linkage constraints. We studied one Arctic pollination network and two Mediterranean seed-dispersal networks. In the first, for example, we recorded flower-visit links for one full season, arranged data in an interaction matrix and got a connectance C of 15 per cent. Interaction accumulation curves documented our sampling of interactions through observation of visits to be robust. Then, we included data on pollen from the body surface of flower visitors as an additional link 'currency'. This resulted in 98 new links, missing from the visitation data. Thus, the combined visit-pollen matrix got an increased C of 20 per cent. For the three networks, C ranged from 20 to 52 per cent, and thus the percentage of unobserved links (100 - C) was 48 to 80 per cent; these were assumed forbidden because of linkage constraints and not missing because of under-sampling. Phenological uncoupling (i.e. non-overlapping phenophases between interacting mutualists) is one kind of constraint, and it explained 22 to 28 per cent of all possible, but unobserved links. Increasing phenophase overlap between species increased link probability, but extensive overlaps were required to achieve a high probability. Other kinds of constraint, such as size mismatch and accessibility limitations, are briefly addressed.},
   keywords = {arctic
climate
mediterranean shrubland
mismatch
pollination
seed dispersal
plant-pollinator interactions
ecological networks
temporal dynamics
climate-change
constraints
asymmetries
ecosystems
phenology
community
abundance},
   ISSN = {0962-8452},
   DOI = {10.1098/rspb.2010.1371},
   url = {<Go to ISI>://WOS:000286507400012},
   year = {2011},
   type = {Journal Article}
}