Asymmetric coevolutionary networks facilitate biodiversity maintenance.
The mutualistic interactions between plants and their pollinators or seed dispersers have played a major role in the maintenance of Earth's biodiversity. To investigate how coevolutionary interactions are shaped within species-rich communities, we characterized the architecture of an array of quantitative, mutualistic networks spanning a broad geographic range. These coevolutionary networks are highly asymmetric, so that if a plant species depends strongly on an animal species, the animal depends weakly on the plant. By using a simple dynamical model, we showed that asymmetries inherent in coevolutionary networks may enhance long-term coexistence and facilitate biodiversity maintenance.
Bascompte
Jordi
J
Integrative Ecology Group, Estaciòn Biològica de Doñana, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientìficas, Apartado 1056, E-41080 Sevilla, Spain. bascompte@ebd.csic.es
Jordano
Pedro
P
Olesen
Jens M
JM
D000818:Animals; D044822:Biodiversity; D005075:Biological Evolution; D017753:Ecosystem; D008433:Mathematics; D008954:Models, Biological; D018521:Plant Physiological Phenomena; D011058:Pollen; D013559:Symbiosis