Loss of top-down biotic interactions changes the relative benefits for obligate mutualists.

ABSTRACT: The collapse of mutualisms owing to anthropogenic changes is contributing to losses of biodiversity. Top predators can regulate biotic interactions between species at lower trophic levels and may contribute to the stability of such mutualisms, but they are particularly likely to be lost after disturbance of communities. We focused on the mutualism between the fig tree Ficus microcarpa and its host-specific pollinator fig wasp and compared the benefits accrued by the mutualists in natural and translocated areas of distribution. Parasitoids of the pollinator were rare or absent outside the natural range of the mutualists, where the relative benefits the mutualists gained from their interaction were changed significantly away from the plant's natural range owing to reduced seed production rat

SUBMITTER: Wang R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6408880 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature