title: Plant diversity increases spatio-temporal niche complementarity in plant-pollinator interactions.
abstract: Ongoing biodiversity decline impairs ecosystem processes, including pollination. Flower visitation, an important indicator of pollination services, is influenced by plant species richness. However, the spatio-temporal responses of different pollinator groups to plant species richness have not yet been analyzed experimentally. Here, we used an experimental plant species richness gradient to analyze plant-pollinator interactions with an unprecedented spatio-temporal resolution. We observed four pollinator functional groups (honeybees, bumblebees, solitary bees, and hoverflies) in experimental plots at three different vegetation strata between sunrise and sunset. Visits were modified by plant species richness interacting with time and space. Furthermore, the complementarity of pollinator functional groups in space and time was stronger in species-rich mixtures. We conclude that high plant diversity should ensure stable pollination services, mediated via spatio-temporal niche complementarity in flower visitation.
authors.affiliation: Agroecology DNPW Georg-August-University Göttingen Göttingen Germany; Institute of Ecology, Ecosystem Functions Leuphana University of Lüneburg Lüneburg Germany.
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Venjakob
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources Nature Conservation and Landscape Ecology University of Freiburg Freiburg Germany.
authors.forename: Alexandra-Maria
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Klein
authors.affiliation: Institute of Ecology Friedrich-Schiller-University of Jena Jena Germany.
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ebeling
authors.affiliation: Agroecology DNPW Georg-August-University Göttingen Göttingen Germany.
authors.forename: Teja
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tscharntke
authors.affiliation: Institute of Landscape Ecology University of Münster Münster Germany.
authors.forename: Christoph
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Scherber
keywords: Environmental niche; Jena Experiment; floral resource use; functional pollinator diversity; generalized additive models; niche overlap