title: Interaction intimacy of pathogens and herbivores with their host plants influences the topological structure of ecological networks in different ways.
abstract: •
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  Over the past two decades an interest in the role that plant-animal mutualistic networks play in the organization and dynamic of biodiversity has steadily risen. Despite the ecological, evolutionary, and economic importance of plant-herbivore and plant-pathogen antagonistic relationships, however, few studies have examined these interactions in an ecological network framework.•
  
  
  METHODS
  We describe for the first time the topological structure of multitrophic networks involving congeneric tropical plant species of the genus Heliconia (Heliconiaceae, Zingiberales) and their herbivores and pathogens in the state of Pernambuco, Brazil. We based our study on the available literature describing the organisms (e.g., insects, mites, fungi, and bacteria) that attack 24 different species, hybrids, and cultivated varieties of Heliconia.•
  
  
  RESULTS
  In general, pathogen- and herbivore-Heliconia networks differed in their topological structure (more modular vs. more nested, respectively): pathogen-Heliconia networks were more specialized and compartmentalized than herbivore-Heliconia networks. High modularity was likely due to the high intimacy that pathogens have with their host plants as compared with the more generalized feeding modes and behavior of herbivores. Some clusters clearly reflected the clustering of closely related cultivated varieties of Heliconia sharing the same pathogens.•
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  From a commercial standpoint, different varieties of the same Heliconia species may be more susceptible to being attacked by the same species of pathogens. In summary, our study highlights the importance of interaction intimacy in structuring trophic relationships between plants and pathogens in the tropics.
authors: Centro de Investigaciones en Ecosistemas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Antigua Carretera a Pátzcuaro No. 8701, Ex Hacienda de San José de la Huerta 58190 Morelia, Michoacán, Mexico.
authors: Julieta
authors: J
authors: Benítez-Malvido
authors: Instituto de Neuroetología, Universidad Veracruzana, Av. Dr. Luis Castelazo s/n 91190 Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico.
authors: Wesley
authors: W
authors: Dáttilo
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001181:Arthropods / Q000502:physiology*; D018407:Bacterial Physiological Phenomena; D044822:Biodiversity; D001938:Brazil; D020387:Food Chain; D005658:Fungi / Q000502:physiology*; D032427:Heliconiaceae / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000502:physiology*; D060434:Herbivory; D013045:Species Specificity
keywords: Heliconiaceae; consumer–resource interactions; food webs; modularity; multitrophic networks; nestedness; plant–herbivore; plant–pathogen