Instituto Tecnológico Vale, Belém, Brazil.
Embrapa Amazônia Oriental, Belém, Brazil.
Sci Rep. 2019 Nov 22;9(1):17383. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-53829-4.
The alarming rate of global pollinator decline has made habitat restoration for pollinators a conservation priority. At the same time, empirical and theoretical studies on plant-pollinator networks have demonstrated that plant species are not equally important for pollinator community persistence and restoration. However, the scarcity of comprehensive datasets on plant-pollinator networks in tropical ecosystems constrains their practical value for pollinator restoration. As closely-related species often share traits that determine ecological interactions, phylogenetic relationships could inform restoration programs in data-scarce regions. Here, we use quantitative bee-plant networks from Brazilian ecosystems to test if priority plant species for different restoration criteria (bee species richness and visitation rates) can be identified using interaction networks; if phylogenetic relationships alone can guide plant species selection; and how restoration criteria influence restored network properties and function. We found plant species that maximised the benefits of habitat restoration for bees (i.e., generalists and those with distinct flower-visitor species) were clustered in a small number of phylogenetically-diverse plant families, and that prioritising the recovery of bee visitation rates improved both stability and function of restored plant-pollinator networks. Our approach can help guide restoration of pollinator communities, even where information on local ecosystems is limited.
全球传粉媒介衰减率令人震惊，这使得传粉媒介生境恢复成为保护的首要任务。与此同时，有关植物-传粉媒介网络的实证和理论研究表明，植物物种对于传粉媒介群落的维持和恢复并不具有同等重要性。然而，热带生态系统中关于植物-传粉媒介网络的综合数据集的稀缺性限制了它们在传粉媒介恢复中的实际价值。由于密切相关的物种往往具有决定生态相互作用的特征，因此系统发育关系可以为数据稀缺地区的恢复计划提供信息。在这里，我们使用来自巴西生态系统的定量蜜蜂-植物网络来检验以下假设：是否可以使用相互作用网络来识别不同恢复标准（蜜蜂物种丰富度和访问率）的优先植物物种；仅系统发育关系是否可以指导植物物种选择；以及恢复标准如何影响恢复后的网络特性和功能。我们发现，最大化生境恢复对蜜蜂益处的植物物种（即广食性物种和具有独特访花物种的植物）聚集在少数几个系统发育上多样化的植物科中，优先恢复蜜蜂访问率可以提高恢复后的植物-传粉媒介网络的稳定性和功能。即使在有关当地生态系统的信息有限的情况下，我们的方法也可以帮助指导传粉媒介群落的恢复。
