An interaction switch predicts the nested architecture of mutualistic networks
Date
2011
Authors
Zhang F.
Hui C.
Terblanche J.S.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
Nested architecture is distinctive in plant-animal mutualistic networks. However, to date an integrative and quantitative explanation has been lacking. It is evident that species often switch their interactive partners in real-world mutualistic networks such as pollination and seed-dispersal networks. By incorporating an interaction switch into a novel multi-population model, we show that the nested architecture rapidly emerges from an initially random network. The model allowing interaction switches between partner species produced predictions which fit remarkably well with observations from 81 empirical networks. Thus, the nested architecture in mutualistic networks could be an intrinsic physical structure of dynamic networks and the interaction switch is likely a key ecological process that results in nestedness of real-world networks. Identifying the biological processes responsible for network structures is thus crucial for understanding the architecture of ecological networks. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd/CNRS.
Description
Keywords
Abundance, Adaptive behaviour, Antagonistic network, Dynamic network, Functional response, Morphological trait, Nestedness, Network size, Pollination, Seed disperser, abundance, adaptation, antagonism, functional response, interspecific interaction, morphology, nestedness, pollination, seed dispersal, social network, Animalia
Citation
Ecology Letters
14
8
http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-79960417418&partnerID=40&md5=a24b72412a113554a8c950971a551a5c
14
8
http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-79960417418&partnerID=40&md5=a24b72412a113554a8c950971a551a5c