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Abundance and generalisation in mutualistic networks: solving the chicken‐and‐egg dilemma
Author(s) -
Fort Hugo,
Vázquez Diego P.,
Lan Boon Leong
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
ecology letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.852
H-Index - 265
eISSN - 1461-0248
pISSN - 1461-023X
DOI - 10.1111/ele.12535
Subject(s) - generalist and specialist species , abundance (ecology) , biology , ecology , mutualism (biology) , pollinator , dilemma , range (aeronautics) , null model , plant species , evolutionary biology , pollination , habitat , pollen , philosophy , materials science , epistemology , composite material
A frequent observation in plant–animal mutualistic networks is that abundant species tend to be more generalised, interacting with a broader range of interaction partners than rare species. Uncovering the causal relationship between abundance and generalisation has been hindered by a chicken‐and‐egg dilemma: is generalisation a by‐product of being abundant, or does high abundance result from generalisation? Here, we analyse a database of plant–pollinator and plant–seed disperser networks, and provide strong evidence that the causal link between abundance and generalisation is uni‐directional. Specifically, species appear to be generalists because they are more abundant, but the converse, that is that species become more abundant because they are generalists, is not supported by our analysis. Furthermore, null model analyses suggest that abundant species interact with many other species simply because they are more likely to encounter potential interaction partners.