Generalist and topologically central avian frugivores promote plant invasion unequally across land-bridge islands
Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
Standard
Generalist and topologically central avian frugivores promote plant invasion unequally across land-bridge islands. / Zhu, Chen; Dalsgaard, Bo; Li, Wande; Gonçalves, Fernando; Vollstädt, Maximilian G. R.; Ren, Peng; Zhang, Xue; Shao, Junjie; Ding, Ping; Si, Xingfeng.
In: Ecology, Vol. 105, No. 2, e4216, 2024.Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
Harvard
APA
Vancouver
Author
Bibtex
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
T1 - Generalist and topologically central avian frugivores promote plant invasion unequally across land-bridge islands
AU - Zhu, Chen
AU - Dalsgaard, Bo
AU - Li, Wande
AU - Gonçalves, Fernando
AU - Vollstädt, Maximilian G. R.
AU - Ren, Peng
AU - Zhang, Xue
AU - Shao, Junjie
AU - Ding, Ping
AU - Si, Xingfeng
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2023 The Ecological Society of America.
PY - 2024
Y1 - 2024
N2 - Seed dispersal by frugivorous birds facilitates plant invasions, but it is poorly known how invasive plants integrate into native communities in fragmented landscapes. We surveyed plant–frugivore interactions, including an invasive plant (Phytolacca americana), on 22 artificial land-bridge islands (fragmented forests) in the Thousand Island Lake, China. Focusing on frugivory interactions that may lead to seed dispersal, we built ecological networks of studied islands both at the local island (community) and at landscape (metacommunity) levels. On islands with P. americana, we found that P. americana impacted local avian frugivory networks more on islands with species-poor plant communities and on isolated islands. Moreover, as P. americana interacted mainly with local core birds (generalists), this indicates reduced seed dispersal of native plants on invaded islands. At the landscape level, P. americana had established strong interactions with generalist birds that largely maintain seed-dispersal functions across islands, as revealed by their topologically central roles both in the regional plant–bird trophic network and in the spatial metanetwork. This indicates that generalist frugivorous birds may have facilitated the dispersal of P. americana across islands, making P. americana well integrated into the plant–frugivore mutualistic metacommunity. Taken together, our study demonstrates that the impact of plant invasion is context-dependent and that generalist native frugivores with high dispersal potential may accelerate plant invasion in fragmented landscapes. These findings highlight the importance of taking the functional roles of animal mutualists and habitat fragmentation into account when managing plant invasions and their impact on native communities.
AB - Seed dispersal by frugivorous birds facilitates plant invasions, but it is poorly known how invasive plants integrate into native communities in fragmented landscapes. We surveyed plant–frugivore interactions, including an invasive plant (Phytolacca americana), on 22 artificial land-bridge islands (fragmented forests) in the Thousand Island Lake, China. Focusing on frugivory interactions that may lead to seed dispersal, we built ecological networks of studied islands both at the local island (community) and at landscape (metacommunity) levels. On islands with P. americana, we found that P. americana impacted local avian frugivory networks more on islands with species-poor plant communities and on isolated islands. Moreover, as P. americana interacted mainly with local core birds (generalists), this indicates reduced seed dispersal of native plants on invaded islands. At the landscape level, P. americana had established strong interactions with generalist birds that largely maintain seed-dispersal functions across islands, as revealed by their topologically central roles both in the regional plant–bird trophic network and in the spatial metanetwork. This indicates that generalist frugivorous birds may have facilitated the dispersal of P. americana across islands, making P. americana well integrated into the plant–frugivore mutualistic metacommunity. Taken together, our study demonstrates that the impact of plant invasion is context-dependent and that generalist native frugivores with high dispersal potential may accelerate plant invasion in fragmented landscapes. These findings highlight the importance of taking the functional roles of animal mutualists and habitat fragmentation into account when managing plant invasions and their impact on native communities.
KW - avian frugivory
KW - ecological network
KW - generalist species
KW - habitat fragmentation
KW - invasive plant
KW - motif
KW - seed dispersal
KW - spatial metanetwork
U2 - 10.1002/ecy.4216
DO - 10.1002/ecy.4216
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 38037487
AN - SCOPUS:85180895342
VL - 105
JO - Ecology
JF - Ecology
SN - 0012-9658
IS - 2
M1 - e4216
ER -
ID: 379031462