Structural dynamics of plant-pollinator mutualistic networks

Fuente: arXiv
Salvato in:
Dettagli Bibliografici
Autori principali: Lampo, Aniello, Palazzi, María J., Borge-Holthoefer, Javier, Solé-Ribalta, Albert
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2021
Soggetti:
Accesso online:
Tags: Aggiungi Tag
Nessun Tag, puoi essere il primo ad aggiungerne!!
_version_ 1866917715595231232
author Lampo, Aniello
Palazzi, María J.
Borge-Holthoefer, Javier
Solé-Ribalta, Albert
author_facet Lampo, Aniello
Palazzi, María J.
Borge-Holthoefer, Javier
Solé-Ribalta, Albert
contents The discourse surrounding the structural organization of mutualistic interactions mostly revolves around modularity and nestedness. The former is known to enhance the stability of communities, while the latter is related to their feasibility, albeit compromising the stability. However, it has recently been shown that the joint emergence of these structures poses challenges that can eventually lead to limitations in the dynamic properties of mutualistic communities. We hypothesize that considering compound arrangements -- modules with internal nested organization -- can offer valuable insights in this debate. We analyze the temporal structural dynamics of 20 plant-pollinator interaction networks and observe large structural variability throughout the year. Compound structures are particularly prevalent during the peak of the pollination season, often coexisting with nested and modular arrangements in varying degrees. Motivated by these empirical findings, we synthetically investigate the dynamics of the structural patterns across two control parameters -- community size and connectance levels -- mimicking the progression of the pollination season. Our analysis reveals contrasting impacts on the stability and feasibility of these mutualistic communities. We characterize the consistent relationship between network structure and stability, which follows a monotonic pattern. But, in terms of feasibility, we observe non-linear relationships. Compound structures exhibit a favorable balance between stability and feasibility, particularly in mid-sized ecological communities, suggesting they may effectively navigate the simultaneous requirements of stability and feasibility. These findings may indicate that the assembly process of mutualistic communities is driven by a delicate balance among multiple properties, rather than the dominance of a single one.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2105_09191
institution arXiv
publishDate 2021
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Structural dynamics of plant-pollinator mutualistic networks
Lampo, Aniello
Palazzi, María J.
Borge-Holthoefer, Javier
Solé-Ribalta, Albert
Physics and Society
Adaptation and Self-Organizing Systems
The discourse surrounding the structural organization of mutualistic interactions mostly revolves around modularity and nestedness. The former is known to enhance the stability of communities, while the latter is related to their feasibility, albeit compromising the stability. However, it has recently been shown that the joint emergence of these structures poses challenges that can eventually lead to limitations in the dynamic properties of mutualistic communities. We hypothesize that considering compound arrangements -- modules with internal nested organization -- can offer valuable insights in this debate. We analyze the temporal structural dynamics of 20 plant-pollinator interaction networks and observe large structural variability throughout the year. Compound structures are particularly prevalent during the peak of the pollination season, often coexisting with nested and modular arrangements in varying degrees. Motivated by these empirical findings, we synthetically investigate the dynamics of the structural patterns across two control parameters -- community size and connectance levels -- mimicking the progression of the pollination season. Our analysis reveals contrasting impacts on the stability and feasibility of these mutualistic communities. We characterize the consistent relationship between network structure and stability, which follows a monotonic pattern. But, in terms of feasibility, we observe non-linear relationships. Compound structures exhibit a favorable balance between stability and feasibility, particularly in mid-sized ecological communities, suggesting they may effectively navigate the simultaneous requirements of stability and feasibility. These findings may indicate that the assembly process of mutualistic communities is driven by a delicate balance among multiple properties, rather than the dominance of a single one.
title Structural dynamics of plant-pollinator mutualistic networks
topic Physics and Society
Adaptation and Self-Organizing Systems
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2105.09191