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Abstract
Species interaction networks are traditionally explored as discrete entities with well-defined spatial borders, an oversimplification likely impairing their applicability. Using a multilayer network approach, explicitly accounting for inter-habitat connectivity, we investigate the spatial structure of seed–dispersal networks across the Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique. We show that the overall seed–dispersal network is composed by spatially explicit communities of dispersers spanning across habitats, functionally linking the landscape mosaic. Inter-habitat connectivity determines spatial structure, which cannot be accurately described with standard monolayer approaches either splitting or merging habitats. Multilayer modularity cannot be predicted by null models randomizing either interactions within each habitat or those linking habitats; however, as habitat connectivity increases, random processes become more important for overall structure. The importance of dispersers for the overall network structure is captured by multilayer versatility but not by standard metrics. Highly versatile species disperse many plant species across multiple habitats, being critical to landscape functional cohesion.
Highlights
Over the recent decades, ecological networks have proved a valuable framework to simultaneously evaluate the role of species, their interactions, and the importance of the emerging community structure for the persistence and stability of biological communities[1]
Primates were responsible for most interactions, namely Papio ursinus and Cercopithecus pygerythrus, followed by Loxodonta africana and Civettictis civetta (African civet, 7%) (Fig. 1)
Species and communities are not randomly distributed across the planet, but they are strongly structured by spatial attributes traditionally recognized by ecologists
Summary
Ecological networks have proved a valuable framework to simultaneously evaluate the role of species, their interactions, and the importance of the emerging community structure for the persistence and stability of biological communities[1]. Most studies have considered networks as entities with discrete borders defined by the experimental design, ignoring the potential across-border connections[4], or alternatively as aggregations of several spatially and temporal sampling occasions into an overall network[5] In nature, these subnetworks are linked by common species and by processes that span over several spatial and temporal scales, contributing to the functional connectivity of ecosystems[6]. We investigate how a mutualistic multilayer network is structured across habitats and the importance of species to the cohesion of seed dispersal across a complex landscape To this end, we collected seed–dispersal interactions across the Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique, to build the most complete, seed–dispersal network of the African continent to date[31], including all potential guilds of seed dispersers. We discuss the potential of this new metric by comparing it to the information provided by traditional species-level descriptors
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