Reciprocal specialization in ecological networks.
Theories suggest that food webs might consist of groups of species forming 'blocks', 'compartments' or 'guilds'. We consider ecological networks - subsets of complete food webs - involving species at adjacent trophic levels. Reciprocal specializations occur when (say) a pollinator (or group of pollinators) specializes on a particular flower species (or group of such species) and vice versa. Such specializations tend to group species into guilds. We characterize the level of reciprocal specialization for both antagonistic interactions - particularly parasitoids and their hosts - and mutualistic ones - such as insects and the flowers that they pollinate. We also examine whether trophic patterns might be 'palimpsests'- that is, there might be reciprocal specialization within taxonomically related species within a network, but these might be obscured when these relationships are combined. Reciprocal specializations are rare in all these systems when tested against the most conservative null model.
Joppa
Lucas N
LN
Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences, Duke University, Durham, NC 23708, USA.
Bascompte
Jordi
J
Montoya
Jose M
JM
Solé
Ricard V
RV
Sanderson
Jim
J
Pimm
Stuart L
SL
D000818:Animals; D017753:Ecosystem; D020387:Food Chain; D008954:Models, Biological