Ecological correlates of species' roles in highly invaded seed dispersal networks.

ABSTRACT: Ecosystems with a mix of native and introduced species are increasing globally as extinction and introduction rates rise, resulting in novel species interactions. While species interactions are highly vulnerable to disturbance, little is known about the roles that introduced species play in novel interaction networks and what processes underlie such roles. Studying one of the most extreme cases of human-modified ecosystems, the island of O'ahu, Hawaii, we show that introduced species there shape the structure of seed dispersal networks to a greater extent than native species. Although both neutral and niche-based processes influenced network structure, niche-based processes played a larger role, despite theory predicting neutral processes to be predominantly important for islands. In fact,

SUBMITTER: Vizentin-Bugoni J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7848469 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature