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Evaluating the effects of pollinator‐mediated interactions using pollen transfer networks: evidence of widespread facilitation in south Andean plant communities

C. Tur; A. Sáez; A. Traveset; M. A. Aizen
Ecology Letters · Vol. 19, Issue 5 · pp. 576-586 · 2016

Abstract

Information about the relative importance of competitive or facilitative pollinator‐mediated interactions in a multi‐species context is limited. We studied interspecific pollen transfer ( IPT ) networks to evaluate quantity and quality effects of pollinator sharing among plant species on three high‐Andean communities at 1600, 1800 and 2000 m a.s.l. To estimate the sign of the effects (positive, neutral or negative), the relation between conspecific and heterospecific pollen deposited on stigmas was analysed with GLMM s. Network analyses showed that communities were characterised by the presence of pollen hub‐donors and receptors. We inferred that facilitative and neutral pollinator‐mediated interactions among plants prevailed over competition. Thus, the benefits from pollinator sharing seem to outweigh the costs (i.e. heterospecific deposition and conspecific pollen loss). The largest proportion of facilitated species was found at the highest elevation community, suggesting that under unfavourable conditions for the pollination service and at lower plant densities facilitation can be more common.

Bibliographic Information

JournalEcology Letters
PublisherWiley
Publication Date2016-05-01
Publication Year2016
Volume19
Issue5
Pages576-586
Document TypeJournal Article
Print ISSN1461-023X
eISSN1461-0248
DOI10.1111/ele.12594
SubjectEcology & Organismal Biology

Access Information

NARA Access Coverage1998-01-01~Current
Journal Homepagehttps://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/loi/14610248
Publisher PageOpen Publisher Page
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