Network robustness and structure depend on the phenological characteristics of plants and pollinators.

ABSTRACT: Many structural patterns have been found to be important for the stability and robustness of mutualistic plant-pollinator networks. These structural patterns are impacted by a suite of variables, including species traits, species abundances, their spatial configuration, and their phylogenetic history. Here, we consider a specific trait: phenology, or the timing of life history events. We expect that timing and duration of activity of pollinators, or of flowering in plants, could greatly affect the species' roles within networks in which they are embedded. Using plant-pollinator networks from 33 sites in southern British Columbia, Canada, we asked (a) how phenological species traits, specifically timing of first appearance in the network and duration of activity in a network, were related t

SUBMITTER: Guzman LM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8495816 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature