Open AccessPredicting the non‐linear collapse of plant–frugivore networks due to habitat loss
Author(s) -
Vidal Mariana Morais,
BanksLeite Cristina,
Tambosi Leandro Reverberi,
Hasui Érica,
Develey Pedro Ferreira,
Silva Wesley Rodrigues,
Guimarães Paulo Roberto,
Metzger Jean Paul
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
ecography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.973
H-Index - 128
eISSN - 1600-0587
pISSN - 0906-7590
DOI - 10.1111/ecog.04403
Subject(s) - frugivore , ecology , habitat destruction , habitat , extinction (optical mineralogy) , ecological network , geography , biology , ecosystem , paleontology
Habitat loss can trigger cascades of secondary extinctions, changing the organization of interacting assemblages. Until recently, most extinction models in interaction systems had limited ecological realism. Here, we estimate a realistic sequence of species extinctions resulting from habitat loss to assess its impacts on the structure of frugivory networks from the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. We show that realistic and random extinctions led to similar patterns. We also identified a threshold in the response of network structure to habitat loss. When forest cover was reduced to less than 40% of the landscape, network organization changed dramatically. Hence, the number of species being lost, rather than the order of species extinctions, is the key determinant of its impacts on the organization of frugivory networks. We highlight the need to conserve around 40% of forest cover to keep the basic organization of frugivory networks, a threshold already reached at the best‐preserved Brazilian Atlantic Forest bioregion.