Rangeland Ecology & Management

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The tolerance of island plant-pollinator networks to alien plants
Author
Kaiser-Bunbury, Christopher N
Valentin, Terence
Mougal, James
Matatiken, Denis
Ghazoul, Jaboury
Publisher
Journal of Ecology
Publication Year
2011
Body

1. Invasive alien plant species pose a severe threat to native plant communities world-wide, especially on islands. While many studies focus on the direct impact of alien plants on native systems, indirect effects of plant invaders on co-flowering natives, for example through competition for pollination services, are less well studied and the results are variable. 2. We used six temporally and taxonomically highly resolved plant-pollinator networks from the island of Mahé, Seychelles, to investigate the indirect impact of invasive alien plant species on remnant native plant communities mediated by shared pollinators. We employed fully quantitative network parameters and information on plant reproductive success, and pollinator diversity and behaviour, to detect changes in plant-pollinator networks along an invasion gradient. 3. The number of visits to and fruit set of native plants did not change with invasion intensity. Weighted plant linkage and interaction evenness, however, was lower at invaded sites than at less invaded sites. These patterns were primarily driven by shifts in interactions of the most common pollinator, the introduced honey bee Apis mellifera, while weak interactions and strong native interactions remained unchanged. 4.Synthesis. The implications of these findings are twofold: first, quantitative network parameters are important tools for detecting underlying biological patterns. Secondly, alien plants and pollinators may play a greater role in shaping network structure at high than low levels of invasion. We could not show, however, whether the presence of invasive plants result in a simplification of plant “pollinator networks that is detrimental to native plants and pollinators alike.

Language
English
Resource Type
Text
Document Type
Journal Issue/Article
Journal Volume
99
Journal Number
1
Journal Pages
202-213
Journal Name
Journal of Ecology
Keywords
Alien invasive species
ecosystem ecology
indirect interactions
inselbergs
interaction connectance
invasion ecology
Invasive alien species
plant communities
pollination webs
Seychelles Islands
Indian Ocean
Africa