Institute of Terrestrial Ecosystems, Zürich, Switzerland.
Ecol Lett. 2010 Apr;13(4):442-52. doi: 10.1111/j.1461-0248.2009.01437.x. Epub 2010 Jan 21.
Species extinctions pose serious threats to the functioning of ecological communities worldwide. We used two qualitative and quantitative pollination networks to simulate extinction patterns following three removal scenarios: random removal and systematic removal of the strongest and weakest interactors. We accounted for pollinator behaviour by including potential links into temporal snapshots (12 consecutive 2-week networks) to reflect mutualists' ability to 'switch' interaction partners (re-wiring). Qualitative data suggested a linear or slower than linear secondary extinction while quantitative data showed sigmoidal decline of plant interaction strength upon removal of the strongest interactor. Temporal snapshots indicated greater stability of re-wired networks over static systems. Tolerance of generalized networks to species extinctions was high in the random removal scenario, with an increase in network stability if species formed new interactions. Anthropogenic disturbance, however, that promote the extinction of the strongest interactors might induce a sudden collapse of pollination networks.
物种灭绝对全球生态群落的功能构成严重威胁。我们使用了两种定性和定量的授粉网络，模拟了在三种去除情景下的灭绝模式：随机去除和系统去除最强和最弱的相互作用者。我们通过纳入潜在的联系来解释传粉者的行为，将其纳入时间快照（12 个连续的 2 周网络）中，以反映共生体“切换”相互作用伙伴（重新布线）的能力。定性数据表明，二次灭绝是线性或慢于线性的，而定量数据则表明，在去除最强相互作用者后，植物相互作用强度呈“S”形下降。时间快照表明，相对于静态系统，重新布线的网络具有更高的稳定性。在随机去除情景下，广义网络对物种灭绝具有较高的耐受性，如果物种形成新的相互作用，网络稳定性会增加。然而，促进最强相互作用者灭绝的人为干扰可能会导致授粉网络突然崩溃。
