This past week in Coevolvers, we read a brand new paper in Nature from Bastolla et al (2009). The authors create a simple model to understand how network structure can lead to an increase in predicted biodiversity in a community. In this case, the authors were looking at how a network of mutualistic interactions will generally be nested. This network structure can reduce interspecific competition and allow a greater biodiversity. The nestedness of interactions in this kind of community refers to how many pollinators a pair of plants share compared to their total number of pollinators. The more they share, and the more this is the case across the entire network, then the higher the network nestedness. The authors use a set of previously published real networks to test predictions from their model.
I thought I would have a quick look at some of these "real" networks. The appendix of the paper directed me to Bascompte et al (2003). This paper summarized pollinator, seed dispersal, and food web networks of plant-animal interactions.
While there I noticed a reference to a review paper in Annals of Botany (Vazquez et al 2009) with an exciting title (Uniting pattern and process in plant-animal mutualistic networks). This looks like a great review and perhaps a future post. In the section outlining "patterns", they provide two contrasting topics, "Mutualistic networks tend to nested" but also "Mutualistic networks tend to be compartmentalized". This struck me as contradictory to the paper we read (Bastolla et al 2009) which predicted nested networks to emerge.
Vazquez et al (2009) had several citations for compartmentalized networks (Dicks et al 2002; Guimaraes et al 2007; Olesen et al 2007). I looked up the Dicks et al paper. I see they find compartmentalization. "The compartments reflected classic pollination syndromes to some extent, dividing the insect fauna into a group of butterflies and bees, and a group of flies, at both sites. The compartmentalization was also affected by phenology" (Dicks et al 2002). There are certainly more examples out in nature that are compartmentalized. Pollinator syndromes could create these compartments. There are other examples of real networks of mutualisms that show compartmentalization. Vazquez et al (2009) finally point to a paper from Lewinsohn et al (2006) where they propose how both patterns can co-occur (compartments with nestedness) and I think this is really what Dicks et al (2002) is finding. Olesen et al (2007) have a paper where they are essentially calling this modularity. You have compartments (modules) and then nested networks present within those. While the original paper we read (Bastolla et al 2009) contained a potential process for how mutualistic networks can form, it seems as though natural networks are probably the result of a complex set of processes.
References
Bascompte, J., P. Jordano, C. J. Melian, and J. M. Olesen. 2003. The nested assembly of plant-animal mutualistic networks. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 100:9383-9387.
Vazquez, D. P., N. Bluthgen, L. Cagnolo, and N. P. Chacoff. 2009. Uniting pattern and process in plant-animal mutualistic networks: a review. Ann Bot.
Dicks, L. V., S. A. Corbet, and R. F. Pywell. 2002. Compartmentalization in plant-insect flower visitor webs. Journal of Animal Ecology 71:32-43.
Olesen, J. M., J. Bascompte, Y. L. Dupont, and P. Jordano. 2007. The modularity of pollination networks. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 104:19891-19896.
Lewinsohn, T., P. Prado, P. Jordano, J. Bascompte, and J. Olesen. 2006. Structure in plant-animal interaction assemblages. Oikos 113:174-184.
Paper Read
Bastolla, U., Fortuna, M., Pascual-García, A., Ferrera, A., Luque, B., & Bascompte, J. (2009). The architecture of mutualistic networks minimizes competition and increases biodiversity Nature, 458 (7241), 1018-1020 DOI: 10.1038/nature07950
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