IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v14y2023i1d10.1038_s41467-023-36669-9.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Novel plant–frugivore network on Mauritius is unlikely to compensate for the extinction of seed dispersers

Author

Listed:
  • Julia H. Heinen

    (University of Copenhagen)

  • F. B. Vincent Florens

    (University of Mauritius)

  • Cláudia Baider

    (Ministry of Agro-Industry and Food Security)

  • Julian P. Hume

    (Natural History Museum)

  • W. Daniel Kissling

    (University of Amsterdam)

  • Robert J. Whittaker

    (University of Oxford)

  • Carsten Rahbek

    (University of Copenhagen
    University of Copenhagen
    Peking University
    University of Southern Denmark)

  • Michael K. Borregaard

    (University of Copenhagen)

Abstract

Insular communities are particularly vulnerable to anthropogenic extinctions and introductions. Changes in composition of island frugivore communities may affect seed dispersal within the native plant community, risking ecological shifts and ultimately co-extinction cascades. Introduced species could potentially mitigate these risks by replacing ecological functions of extinct species, but conclusive evidence is lacking. Here, we investigate changes in plant–frugivore interactions involving frugivorous birds, mammals and reptiles in Mauritius, an oceanic island with an exceptionally well-specified frugivore community and well-described species introduction history. We demonstrate substantial losses of binary interaction partnerships (at the species level) resulting from native species extinctions, but also gains of equal numbers of novel interactions with introduced species, potentially supporting the idea that non-native species might compensate for lost seed dispersal. However, closer investigation of animal seed handling behaviour reveals that most interactions with seed dispersers are replaced by ecologically different interactions with seed predators. Therefore, restoration of seed dispersal functionality in this novel plant–frugivore community is unlikely.

Suggested Citation

  • Julia H. Heinen & F. B. Vincent Florens & Cláudia Baider & Julian P. Hume & W. Daniel Kissling & Robert J. Whittaker & Carsten Rahbek & Michael K. Borregaard, 2023. "Novel plant–frugivore network on Mauritius is unlikely to compensate for the extinction of seed dispersers," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-13, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:14:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-023-36669-9
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-36669-9
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-36669-9
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41467-023-36669-9?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Enrico L. Rezende & Jessica E. Lavabre & Paulo R. Guimarães & Pedro Jordano & Jordi Bascompte, 2007. "Non-random coextinctions in phylogenetically structured mutualistic networks," Nature, Nature, vol. 448(7156), pages 925-928, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Bastazini, Vinicius Augusto Galvão & Debastiani, Vanderlei & Cappelatti, Laura & Guimarães, Paulo & Pillar, Valério D., 2022. "The role of evolutionary modes for trait-based cascades in mutualistic networks," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 470(C).
    2. Xu-Wen Wang & Yang Hu & Giulia Menichetti & Francine Grodstein & Shilpa N. Bhupathiraju & Qi Sun & Xuehong Zhang & Frank B. Hu & Scott T. Weiss & Yang-Yu Liu, 2023. "Nutritional redundancy in the human diet and its application in phenotype association studies," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-16, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:14:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-023-36669-9. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.