Journal
ARTHROPOD-PLANT INTERACTIONS
Volume 10, Issue 3, Pages 263-271Publisher
SPRINGER
DOI: 10.1007/s11829-016-9431-2
Keywords
Modularity; Generalization; Food web; Nestedness; Meadow ecology; Network robustness
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Funding
- Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education via the Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw [BW 501/86-102314]
- Polish National Science Centre [N N304 367938]
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On the basis of theoretical predictions, pollination networks seem to be resilient to random node elimination but sensitive to targeted exclusion. However, such predictions have a very weak empirical basis. In order to test the robustness of the pollination network to short-term disturbances, we removed inflorescences of the most connected species occurring in a lowland meadow network using the before-after approach and compared the result with that obtained by network modelling. The manipulated network showed no significant differences for the most commonly used metrics, but was more generalized than control networks, owing to a change in the preferences of pollinators. Furthermore, no secondary extinctions (emigrations) were found, owing to the considerable natural variation found among insect species assemblages. Following elimination of the most linked plant species, a new hub was detected in the experimental meadow, the hub node being a plant species with a similar inflorescence to that removed, and formerly playing the role of a peripheral node. We conclude that exclusion of the main food source forced insects to change their specialized preferences to other plant species that were available. Mostly, these had inflorescences similar to those that were removed.
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