Faculty Opinions recommendation of Functional diversity of plant-pollinator interaction webs enhances the persistence of plant communities.

Abstract Objectives Altitude integrates changes in environmental conditions that determine shifts in vegetation, including temperature, precipitation, solar radiation and edaphogenetic processes. In turn, vegetation alters soil biophysical properties through litter input, root growth, microbial and macrofaunal interactions. The belowground traits of plant communities modify soil processes in different ways, but it is not known how root traits influence soil biota at the community level. We collected data to investigate how elevation affects belowground community traits and soil microbial and faunal communities. This dataset comprises data from a temperate climate in France and a twin study was performed in a tropical zone in Mexico. Data description The paper describes soil physical and chemical properties, climatic variables, plant community composition and species abundance, plant community traits, soil microbial functional diversity and macrofaunal abundance and diversity. Data are provided for six elevations (1400–2400 m) ranging from montane forest to alpine prairie. We focused on soil biophysical properties beneath three dominant plant species that structure local vegetation. These data are useful for understanding how shifts in vegetation communities affect belowground processes, such as water infiltration, soil aggregation and carbon storage. Data will also help researchers understand how plant communities adjust to a changing climate/environment.

Download Full-text

Low functional diversity promotes niche changes in natural island pollinator communities

Proceedings of The Royal Society B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rspb.2016.2218 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 284 (1846) ◽

pp. 20162218 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Masayoshi K. Hiraiwa ◽

Atushi Ushimaru

Keyword(s):

Functional Diversity ◽

Fruit Set ◽

Oceanic Islands ◽

Flower Visit ◽

Continental Islands ◽

Niche Shifts ◽

Island Communities ◽

Negative Impacts ◽

Plant Pollinator ◽

Natural Communities

Functional diversity loss among pollinators has rapidly progressed across the globe and is expected to influence plant–pollinator interactions in natural communities. Although recent findings suggest that the disappearance of a certain pollinator functional group may cause niche expansions and/or shifts in other groups, no study has examined this prediction in natural communities with high plant and pollinator diversities. By comparing coastal pollination networks on continental and oceanic islands, we examined how community-level flower visit patterns are influenced by the relative biomass of long-tongued pollinators (RBLP). We found that RBLP significantly correlated with pollinator functional diversity and was lower in oceanic than in continental islands. Pollinator niches shifted with decreasing RBLP, such that diverse species with various proboscis lengths, especially short-tongued species, increasingly visited long-tubed flowers. However, we found no conspicuous negative impacts of low RBLP and the consequent niche shifts on pollinator visit frequencies to flowers in oceanic island communities. Notably, fruit set significantly decreased as RBLP decreased in a study plant species. These results suggest that niche shifts by other functional groups can generally compensate for a decline in long-tongued pollinators in natural communities, but there may be negative impacts on plant reproduction.

Download Full-text

Effects of Urbanization on Plant–Pollinator Interactions in the Tropics: An Experimental Approach Using Exotic Plants

Insects ◽

10.3390/insects11110773 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 11 (11) ◽

pp. 773

Author(s):

Marie Zakardjian ◽

Benoît Geslin ◽

Valentin Mitran ◽

Evelyne Franquet ◽

Hervé Jourdan

Keyword(s):

Exotic Species ◽

Plant Communities ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Native Species ◽

New Caledonia ◽

Land Use Changes ◽

Exotic Plants ◽

Exotic Plant ◽

Wild Bees ◽

Plant Pollinator

Land-use changes through urbanization and biological invasions both threaten plant-pollinator networks. Urban areas host modified bee communities and are characterized by high proportions of exotic plants. Exotic species, either animals or plants, may compete with native species and disrupt plant–pollinator interactions. These threats are heightened in insular systems of the Southwest Pacific, where the bee fauna is generally poor and ecological networks are simplified. However, the impacts of these factors have seldom been studied in tropical contexts. To explore those questions, we installed experimental exotic plant communities in urban and natural contexts in New Caledonia, a plant diversity hotspot. For four weeks, we observed plant–pollinator interactions between local pollinators and our experimental exotic plant communities. We found a significantly higher foraging activity of exotic wild bees within the city, together with a strong plant–pollinator association between two exotic species. However, contrary to our expectations, the landscape context (urban vs. natural) had no effect on the activity of native bees. These results raise issues concerning how species introduced in plant–pollinator networks will impact the reproductive success of both native and exotic plants. Furthermore, the urban system could act as a springboard for alien species to disperse in natural systems and even invade them, leading to conservation concerns.

Download Full-text