Global and regional ecological boundaries explain abrupt spatial discontinuities in avian frugivory interactions

Lucas P. Martins (), Daniel B. Stouffer, Pedro G. Blendinger, Katrin Böhning-Gaese, Galo Buitrón-Jurado, Marta Correia, José Miguel Costa, D. Matthias Dehling, Camila I. Donatti, Carine Emer, Mauro Galetti, Ruben Heleno, Pedro Jordano, Ícaro Menezes, José Carlos Morante-Filho, Marcia C. Muñoz, Eike Lena Neuschulz, Marco Aurélio Pizo, Marta Quitián, Roman A. Ruggera, Francisco Saavedra, Vinicio Santillán, Virginia Sanz D’Angelo, Matthias Schleuning, Luís Pascoal da Silva, Fernanda Ribeiro da Silva, Sérgio Timóteo, Anna Traveset, Maximilian G. R. Vollstädt and Jason M. Tylianakis ()
Additional contact information
Lucas P. Martins: University of Canterbury
Daniel B. Stouffer: University of Canterbury
Pedro G. Blendinger: Universidad Nacional de Tucumán and CONICET; CC 34
Katrin Böhning-Gaese: Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (SBiK-F)
Galo Buitrón-Jurado: Laboratorio de Biología de Organismos, Centro de Ecología, Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Científicas (IVIC)
Marta Correia: University of Coimbra
José Miguel Costa: University of Coimbra
D. Matthias Dehling: Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL
Camila I. Donatti: Conservation International
Carine Emer: Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden Research Institute
Mauro Galetti: São Paulo State University – UNESP
Ruben Heleno: University of Coimbra
Pedro Jordano: Estación Biológica de Doñana, CSIC
Ícaro Menezes: Santa Cruz State University
José Carlos Morante-Filho: Santa Cruz State University
Marcia C. Muñoz: Programa de Biología, Universidad de La Salle
Eike Lena Neuschulz: Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (SBiK-F)
Marco Aurélio Pizo: São Paulo State University – UNESP
Marta Quitián: Tokyo Metropolitan University
Roman A. Ruggera: Instituto de Ecorregiones Andinas (Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas - Universidad Nacional de Jujuy)
Francisco Saavedra: Universidad Mayor de San Andrés
Vinicio Santillán: Centro de Investigación, Innovación y Transferencia de Tecnología (CIITT), Unidad Académica de Posgrado, Universidad Católica de Cuenca
Virginia Sanz D’Angelo: Laboratorio de Biología de Organismos, Centro de Ecología, Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Científicas (IVIC)
Matthias Schleuning: Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (SBiK-F)
Luís Pascoal da Silva: CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Campus de Vairão, Universidade do Porto
Fernanda Ribeiro da Silva: Federal University of Santa Catarina, UFSC
Sérgio Timóteo: University of Coimbra
Anna Traveset: Instituto Mediterráneo de Estudios Avanzados (CSIC-UIB)
Maximilian G. R. Vollstädt: University of Copenhagen
Jason M. Tylianakis: University of Canterbury

Nature Communications, 2022, vol. 13, issue 1, 1-13

Abstract: Abstract Species interactions can propagate disturbances across space via direct and indirect effects, potentially connecting species at a global scale. However, ecological and biogeographic boundaries may mitigate this spread by demarcating the limits of ecological networks. We tested whether large-scale ecological boundaries (ecoregions and biomes) and human disturbance gradients increase dissimilarity among plant-frugivore networks, while accounting for background spatial and elevational gradients and differences in network sampling. We assessed network dissimilarity patterns over a broad spatial scale, using 196 quantitative avian frugivory networks (encompassing 1496 plant and 1004 bird species) distributed across 67 ecoregions, 11 biomes, and 6 continents. We show that dissimilarities in species and interaction composition, but not network structure, are greater across ecoregion and biome boundaries and along different levels of human disturbance. Our findings indicate that biogeographic boundaries delineate the world’s biodiversity of interactions and likely contribute to mitigating the propagation of disturbances at large spatial scales.

Date: 2022
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-34355-w

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