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Meta-networks for the study of biogeographical traits in ecological networks: the Mexican hummingbird-plant assemblage

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Abstract

Recent studies on ecological networks have quantified the contribution of ecological, historical, and evolutionary factors on the structure of local communities of interacting species. However, the influence of species’ biogeographical traits, such as migratory habits or phylogeographical history, on ecological networks is poorly understood. Meta-networks, i.e., networks that cover large spatial extensions and include species not co-occurring locally, enable us to investigate mechanisms that operate at larger spatial scales such as migratory patterns or phylogeographical distributions, as well as indirect relationships among species through shared partners. Using a meta-network of hummingbird-plant interaction across Mexico, we illustrate the usefulness of this approach by investigating (1) how biogeographical and morphological factors associate with observed interactions and (2) how species-specific biogeographical characteristics associate with species’ network roles. Our results show that all studied hummingbird and plant species in the meta-network were interrelated, either directly or through shared partners. The meta-network was structured into modules, resulting from hummingbirds and plants interacting preferentially with subsets of species, which differed in biogeographical, and, to a lesser extent, morphological traits. Furthermore, migrants and hummingbirds from Nearctic, Transition, and widespread regions had a higher topological importance in the meta-network. Our study illustrates how meta-networks may contribute to our current knowledge on species’ biogeographical traits and biotic interactions, providing a perspective complementary to local-scale networks.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Sven Thatje, Tobias Roth, and three anonymous referees for helpful comments on a previous version of the manuscript. AMMG is supported through a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship (H2020-MSCA-IF-2015-704409). AMMG and BD thank the Danish National Research Foundation for its support of the Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate (Grant number DNRF96). CL thanks the Secretaría de Investigación of Universidad Autónoma de Tlaxcala for the scholarship awarded. Verónica Mendiola-Islas provided logistical support during the revision of hummingbird-plant networks.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, 2100, Copenhagen Ø, Denmark

    Ana M. Martín González & Bo Dalsgaard

  2. Departamento de Biología Evolutiva, Instituto de Ecología, A.C. (INECOL), Carretera Antigua a Coatepec No. 351, El Haya, 91070, Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico

    Juan Francisco Ornelas

  3. Doctorado en Ciencias Biológicas y de la Salud, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana-Iztapalapa, Av. San Rafael Atlixco 186, Col. Vicentina, 09340, Iztapalapa, Mexico

    Ubaldo Márquez-Luna

  4. Centro de Investigación en Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Autónoma de Tlaxcala, Km 10.5 Autopista Tlaxcala-San Martín Texmelucan, San Felipe Ixtacuixtla, 90120, Tlaxcala, Mexico

    Carlos Lara

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  1. Ana M. Martín González
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Correspondence to Ana M. Martín González.

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Communicated by: Sven Thatje

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Martín González, A.M., Ornelas, J.F., Dalsgaard, B. et al. Meta-networks for the study of biogeographical traits in ecological networks: the Mexican hummingbird-plant assemblage. Sci Nat 105, 54 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-018-1578-5

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