Understanding the Complex Structure of a Plant-Floral Visitor Network from Different Perspectives in Coastal Veracruz, Mexico

Authors

  • Haydée Hernández-Yáñez University of Missouri-St. Louis
  • Nubia Lara-Rodriguez Universidad de Alicante
  • Cecília Díaz-Castelazo Instituto de Ecologia - Xalapa
  • Wesley Dáttilo Universidad Veracruzana
  • Victor Rico-Gray Instituto de Neuroetologia Universidad Veracruzana Xalapa, Veracruz 91190 Mexico

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.13102/sociobiology.v60i3.329-336

Keywords:

Floral syndromes, Flower visitors, Modularity, Mutualistic networks, Pollination

Abstract

Our premise was to understand the basic structure of the flower-flower visitor community at La Mancha in Veracruz, Mexico. We used network analyses to study the structure of this community. In particular, to analyze, (1) if flower color and shape (“as a limited portion of the traditional floral syndromes definition”) were linked to the arrival of certain floral visitors, (2) if visits to flowers were generalist, specific and/or modular; and (3) which plant species, if any, in the core of the network could affect the stability of floral visitors. In order to analyze the organization of the plant-floral visitor community, we prepared network graphics using Pajek, nestedness (as NODF) with Aninhado, and modularity with the SA algorithm. The network obtained was nested suggesting that generalist species (with the most associations) were interacting with specialists (with fewer associations). Furthermore, floral visitors (Hymenoptera, Diptera, Lepidoptera and Trochiilidae) did not exhibit a particular preference for a specific flower color or shape, each pollinator group visited most flowers/colors/shapes considered. The same was similar for all 14 resulting modules. As in other studies, we suggest that pollination leans to generalization rather than to specialization. We suggest that maybe seasonality/food resource could be the factors to analyze as the next step in floral visits which may be the answer to modularity in this seasonal ecosystem.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Almeida-Neto, M., Guimarães, P., Guimarães, Jr., P.R., Loyola, R.D. & Ulrich, W. (2008). A consistent metric for nestedness analysis in ecological systems: reconciling concept and measurement. Oikos, 117: 1227-1239. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0030-1299.2008.16644.x

Bascompte, J. (2009). Mutualistic networks. Front. Ecol. Environ., 7: 429-436. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1890/080026

Bascompte, J. & Jordano, P. (2007). Plant-animal mutualistic networks: the architecture of biodiversity. Annu. Rev. Ecol. Evol. Syst., 38: 567–93. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.ecolsys.38.091206.095818

Bascompte, J., Jordano, P., Melián, C.J. & Olesen, J.M. (2003). The nested assembly of plant–animal mutualistic networks. Proc. Natl. Ac. Sc. (USA), 100: 9383–9387. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1633576100

Baldock, K.C.R., Memmot, J., Ruiz-Guajardo, J.C., Roze, D. & Stone, G.N. (2011). Daily temporal structure in African Savanna flower visitation networks and consequences for network sampling. Ecology, 92: 687-698. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1890/10-1110.1

Borgatti, S.P. & Everett, M.G. (1999). Models of core/periphery structures. Social Net., 21: 375-395. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0378-8733(99)00019-2

Borgatti, S.P., Everett. M.G. & Freeman, L.C. (1999). UCINET 5.0 version 1.00. Natick, MA: Natick Analytic Technologies.

Burkle, L.A., Martin, J.C. & Knight, T.M. (2013). Plant-pollinator interactions over 120 years: loss of species, co-occurrence, and function. Science, 339: 1611-1615. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1232728

Dáttilo, W., Izzo, T.J., Vasconcelos, H.L. & Rico-Gray, V. (2013). Strength of the modular pattern in Amazonian symbiotic ant-plant networks. APIS, 7: 255-461 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11829-013-9256-1

Dáttilo, W. (2012). Different tolerances of symbiotic and nonsymbiotic ant-plant networks to species extinctions. Net. Biol., 2(4): 127-138.

Castillo-Campos, G. & Medina, M.A.E. (2000). Árboles y arbustos de las selvas y matorrales de la reserva natural de La Mancha, Veracruz, México: manual para la identificación de las especies. Xalapa, México: Instituto de Ecología, A.C.

Danieli-Silva, A.J.M., Tesserolli de Souza, M., Donatti, A.J. Pamplona Campos, R., Vicente-Silva, J., Freitas, L. & Galarda Varassin, I. (2012). Do pollination syndromes cause modularity and predict interactions in a pollination network in tropical high-altitude grasslands? Oikos, 121: 35-43. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0706.2011.19089.x

De Nooy, W., Mrvar, A. & Batagelj, V. (2005). Exploratory social network analysis with Pajek. Cambridge-New York: Cambridge University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511806452

Díaz-Castelazo, C., Guimarães, Jr. P.R., Jordano, P., Thompson, J.N., Marquis, R.J., & Rico-Gray, V. (2010). Changes of a mutualistic network over time: reanalysis over a 10-year period. Ecology, 91: 793-801. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1890/08-1883.1

Díaz-Castelazo, C., Sánchez-Galván, I.R., Guimarães Jr., P.R., Galdini-Raimundo, R.L. & Rico-Gray, V. (2013). Long-term temporal variation in the organization of an ant-plant network. Ann. Bot., 111: 1285-1293. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mct071

Dormann, C.F. & Gruber, B. (2009). Visualising bipartite networks and calculating some ecological indices. Bipartite Reference Manual: 1-73.

Dupont ,Y.L. & Olesen, J.M.. (2009). Ecological modules and roles of species in heath land plant-insect flower visitors networks. J. An. Ecol., 78: 346-353. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2656.2008.01501.x

Faegri, K. & van der Pijl, L. (1979). The Principles of pollination ecology. Oxford: Pergamon Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-023160-0.50020-7

Fenster, C.B., Armbruster, W.S., Wilson, P., Dudash, M.R. & Thomson J.D. (2004). Pollination syndromes and floral specialization. Annu. Rev. Ecol. Evol. Syst., 35: 375-403. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.ecolsys.34.011802.132347

Free, J.B. (1970). Effect of flower shapes and nectar guides on the behaviour of foraging honey bees. Behaviour, 37: 269-285. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/156853970X00376

Gómez, J.M. (2002). Generalización en las interacciones entre plantas y polinizadores. Rev. Chilena Hist. Nat., 75: 105-116. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4067/S0716-078X2002000100010

Guimarães Jr., P.R. & Guimarães, P. (2006). Improving the analyses of nestedness for large sets of matrices. Environ. Model. Sof., 21:1512-1513. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsoft.2006.04.002

Guimarães, Jr., P.R., Rico-Gray, V., dos Reis, S.F. & Thompson, J.N. (2006). Asymmetries in specialization in ant-plant mutualistic networks. Proc. Royal Soc. B, 273: 2041-2047. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2006.3548

Guimarães, Jr., P.R., Rico-Gray, V., Oliveira, P.S., Izzo, J.T., dos Reis, S.F. & Thompson, J.N.. (2007). Interaction intimacy affects structure and coevolutionary dynamics in mutualistic networks. Cur. Biol., 17: 1797-1803. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2007.09.059

Guimerà, R. & Amaral, L.A.N. (2005a). Functional cartography of complex metabolic networks. Nature, 433: 895-900. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nature03288

Guimerà, R. & Amaral. L.A.N. (2005b). Cartography of complex networks: modules and universal roles. J. Stat. Mech. PO2001: 1742-5468. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-5468/2005/02/P02001

Guimerà, R., Sales-Pardo, M. & Amaral, L.A.N. (2004). Modularity from fluctuations in random graphs and complex networks. Phy. Rev. E, 70: 025101. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.70.025101

Hingston, A.B. & McQuillan, P.B.. (2000). Are pollination syndromes useful predictors of floral visitors in Tasmania? Austral Ecol., 25: 600-609. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1442-9993.2000.tb00065.x

Hirota, S.K., Nitta, K., Kim, Y., Kato, A., Kawuakubo, N. Yasumoto, A.A. & Yahara, T. (2012). Relative role of flower color and scent on pollinator attraction: experimental tests using F1 and F2 hybrids of day-lily and night-lily. PLoS one 7: e39010. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0039010

Horn, H.S. (1966). Measurement of overlap in comparative ecological studies. Am. Nat., 100: 419-424. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1086/282436

Jordano, P. (1987). Patterns of mutualistic interactions in pollination and seed dispersal: connectance, dependence, and coevolution. Am. Nat., 129: 657–677. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1086/284665

Jordano, P., Bascompte, J. & Olesen, J.M. (2003). Invariant properties in coevolutionary networks of plant-animal interactions. Ecol. Lett., 6: 69-81. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1461-0248.2003.00403.x

Jordano, P., Bascompte, J. & Olesen, J.M.. (2006). The ecological consequences of complex topology and nested structure in pollination webs. In N.M. Waser & Ollerton, J. (Eds.), Plant-pollinator interactions, from specialization to generalization (pp. 173-201). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Johnson, S.D. & Steiner, K.E. (2000). Generalization versus specialization in plant pollination systems. Trends Ecol. Evol., 15: 140-143. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0169-5347(99)01811-X

Kothamasi, D., Kiers, E.T. & van der Heijden, M.G.A. (2010). Mutualisms and community organization. In H.A. Verhouef & Morin, P.J. (Eds.), Community ecology: processes, models and applications (pp. 179-192). Oxford: Oxford University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199228973.003.0014

Lange, D., Dáttilo, W. & Del-Claro, K. (2013). Influence of extrafloral nectary phenology on ant-plant mutualistic networks in a Neotropical Savanna. Ecol. Entomol., 38: 463-469. 2013. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/een.12036

Lewinsohn, T. & Prado, P.I. (2006). Structure in plant-animal interaction assemblages. Oikos, 113: 174-184. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0030-1299.2006.14583.x

Moreno-Casasola, P. [ed.]. (2006). Entornos veracruzanos: la costa de La Mancha. Xalapa, México: Instituto de Ecología, A.C.

Olesen, J.M. & Jordano, P. (2002). Geographic patterns in plant-pollinator mutualistic networks. Ecology, 83: 2416-2424. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1890/0012-9658(2002)083[2416:GPIPPM]2.0.CO;2

Olesen, J.M., Bascompte, J., Dupont, Y.K. & Jordano, P. (2007). The modularity of pollination networks. Proc. Natl. Ac. Sc. (USA), 104: 19891-19896. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0706375104

Ollerton, J., Alarcón, R., Waser, N.M., Price, M.V., Watts, S., Cranmer, L., Hingston, A., Peter, C.I. & Rotenberry, J. (2009). A global test of the pollination syndrome hypothesis. Ann. Bot., 103: 1471-1480. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcp031

Ollerton, J., Winfree, R. & Tarrant, S. (2011). How many flowering plants are pollinated by animals? Oikos, 120: 321-326. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0706.2010.18644.x

Rezende, E.L., Albert, E.M., Fortuna, M.A. & Bascompte, J. (2009). Compartments in a marine food web associated with phylogeny, body mass and habitat structure. Ecol. Lett., 12: 779-788. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1461-0248.2009.01327.x

Richards, A.J. (1997). Plant breeding systems. London, UK, Chapman and Hall. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-3043-9

Rico-Gray, V. (1993). Use of plant-derived food resources by ants in the dry tropical lowlands of coastal Veracruz, Mexico. Biotropica, 25: 301-315. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/2388788

Rico-Gray, V. (2001). Interspecific interaction. Encyclopedia of Life Sciences. MacMillan Group, www.els.net. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/npg.els.0003280

Rico-Gray, V., Díaz-Castelazo, C., Ramírez-Hernández, A., Guimarães Jr., P.R. & Holland, J.N. (2012). Abiotic factors shape temporal variation in the structure of an ant-plant network. APIS, 6: 289-295. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11829-011-9170-3

Soto, M. & García, E. (1989). Atlas climático del estado de Veracruz. Xalapa, México: Instituto de Ecología, A.C.

Thompson, J.N. (1999). The evolution of species interactions. Science, 284: 2116-2118. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.284.5423.2116

Tylianakis, J.M. (2013). The global plight of pollinators. Science, 339: 1532-1533. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1235464

Valdivia, C.E. & Hermann, M.N. (2006). Do floral syndromes predict specialization in plant pollination systems? Assessment of diurnal and nocturnal pollination of Escallonia myrtoidea. New Zeal. J. Bot., 44: 135-141. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/0028825X.2006.9513014

Vázquez ,D.P., Blüthgen, N., Cagnolo, L. & Chacoff, N.P.. (2009). Uniting pattern and process in plant-animal mutualistic networks: a review. Ann. Bot., 103: 1445-1457. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcp057

Waser, N.M., Chittka, L., Price, M.V., Williams, N.M. & Ollerton, J. (1996). Generalization in pollination systems, and why it matters. Ecology, 77: 1043-1060. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/2265575

Downloads

Published

2013-11-06

How to Cite

Hernández-Yáñez, H., Lara-Rodriguez, N., Díaz-Castelazo, C., Dáttilo, W., & Rico-Gray, V. (2013). Understanding the Complex Structure of a Plant-Floral Visitor Network from Different Perspectives in Coastal Veracruz, Mexico. Sociobiology, 60(3), 329–336. https://doi.org/10.13102/sociobiology.v60i3.329-336

Issue

Vol. 60 No. 3 (2013)

Section

Research Article - Bees

License

Sociobiology is a diamond open access journal which means that all content is freely available without charge to the user or his/her institution. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles in this journal without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author. This is in accordance with the BOAI definition of open access.

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

 

    1. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.

 

    1. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.

 

  1. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).

Most read articles by the same author(s)

1 2 > >>