Tolerance of pollination networks to species extinctions
Tolerance of pollination networks to species extinctions
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DOI：
10.1098/rspb.2004.2909
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发表时间：
2004-12-22
影响因子：
4.7
通讯作者：
Price, MV
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Memmott, J;Waser, NM;Price, MV
在人类灭绝的威胁下，开花植物和动物传粉者之间的互利互动代表着一项关键的“生态系统服务”。我们通过模拟传粉者的移开和依赖它们繁殖的植物的损失，探索了两个由植物和花卉访客组成的大型网络中可能的灭绝模式。对于每个网络，我们随机移除传粉者，系统地从链接最少(最专业)到链接最多(最普遍)，从链接最多到链接最少。植物物种多样性下降最快，优先移除最相关的传粉者，但下降并不比线性下降更严重。这种对灭绝的相对耐受性来自于每株传粉者的冗余和网络的嵌套拓扑。传粉网络的耐受性与标准食物网报告的灾难性下降形成了鲜明对比。这种差异可能是所用方法的结果：以前的研究仅根据物种的联系将物种从多个营养级别中移除，而我们优先移除传粉者反映了它们相对于植物更大的灭绝风险。在这两个授粉网络中，联系最紧密的传粉者是大黄蜂和一些独居蜜蜂。在努力保护温带授粉系统时，这些动物应该受到特别的关注。
Mutually beneficial interactions between flowering plants and animal pollinators represent a critical 'ecosystem service' under threat of anthropogenic extinction. We explored probable patterns of extinction in two large networks of plants and flower visitors by simulating the removal of pollinators and consequent loss of the plants that depend upon them for reproduction. For each network, we removed pollinators at random, systematically from least-linked (most specialized) to most-linked (most generalized), and systematically from most- to least-linked. Plant species diversity declined most rapidly with preferential removal of the most-linked pollinators, but declines were no worse than linear. This relative tolerance to extinction derives from redundancy in pollinators per plant and from nested topology of the networks. Tolerance in pollination networks contrasts with catastrophic declines reported from standard food webs. The discrepancy may be a result of the method used: previous studies removed species from multiple trophic levels based only on their linkage, whereas our preferential removal of pollinators reflects their greater risk of extinction relative to that of plants. In both pollination networks, the most-linked pollinators were bumble-bees and some solitary bees. These animals should receive special attention in efforts to conserve temperate pollination systems.