Dissertation Research: Testing for Generalities in Mutualistic Networks: The Role of Specialization in Plant-Pollinator Community Structure and Stability

物种相互作用的知识对于理解生物多样性的起源和持久性至关重要，因为生物不是孤立在自然界中的，而是复杂群落的一部分。最近的研究表明，植物传粉者群落具有一种普遍类型的结构组织，这是由其成员之间相互依存和相互作用的专业化程度决定的。然而，由于群落组成取决于整体物种多样性，以及其他因纬度而异的因素，植物传粉者群落可能在不同的地理区域产生不同的结构。这项研究的重点是巴西塞拉多的热带植物传粉者群落，这是世界上最多样化和最濒危的热带生态系统之一。高度的植物多样性和专门化授粉系统的频繁出现，为在社区范围内分析结构组织创造了重要的机会，使用一种特殊的方法将该社区视为网络。然后将这种结构与为其他植物传粉者群落提出的普遍结构进行比较，与热带以外以前研究得很好的系统形成重要对比。此外，将在雨季和旱季进行实地采样，以确定环境条件可能如何影响群落结构。该项目涉及南美和北美机构之间的合作，对巴西和美国的本科生和研究生进行培训，以及确定在保护塞拉多地区的植物传粉者群落方面可能具有特别重要作用的关键物种。

Knowledge of species interactions is crucial to understanding the origins and persistence of biodiversity as organisms are not isolated in nature but are rather part of complex communities. Recent studies suggest that plant-pollinator communities have a universal type of structural organization that is determined by the degree of mutual dependency and specialization of interactions among their members. However, since community composition is contingent upon overall species diversity, among other factors that vary across latitudes, plant-pollinator communities likely yield different structures in distinct geographic regions. This study focuses on a tropical plant-pollinator community in the Brazilian Cerrado, one of the most diverse and endangered tropical ecosystems in the world. High plant diversity and frequent occurrence of specialized pollination systems create an important opportunity for a community-wide analysis of structural organization using a particular approach that treats this community as a network. This structure will then be compared to the universal structure proposed for other plant-pollinator communities, providing an important contrast with previously well studied systems outside the tropics. In addition, field sampling will be conducted both in the wet and dry season, to determine how environmental conditions may affect community structure. The project involves collaboration between South American and North American institutions, training of undergraduate and graduate students in Brazil and the U.S., as well as the identification of keystone species that may have an especially important role in the conservation of plant-pollinator communities in the Cerrado.