Refuges from fire maintain pollinator-plant interaction networks.

ABSTRACT: Fire is a major disturbance factor in many terrestrial ecosystems, leading to landscape transformation in fire-prone areas. Species in mutualistic interactions are often highly sensitive to disturbances like fire events, but the degree and complexity of their responses are unclear. We use bipartite insect-flower interaction networks across a recently burned landscape to explore how plant-pollinator interaction networks respond to a recent major fire event at the landscape level, and where fire refuges were present. We also investigate the effectiveness of these refuges at different elevations (valley to hilltop) for the conservation of displaced flower-visiting insects during fire events. Then, we explore how the degree of specialization of flower-visiting insects changes across habitats w

SUBMITTER: Adedoja O 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6540659 | biostudies-literature | 2019 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature