Laboratory of Biogeography and Ecology, Department of Geography, University of the Aegean, Mytilene, Greece.
Department of Environmental Systems Science, ETH Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland.
J Anim Ecol. 2023 May;92(5):1001-1015. doi: 10.1111/1365-2656.13898. Epub 2023 Mar 1.
We studied α- and β-diversity of pollinators, flowering plants and plant-pollinator interactions along the altitudinal gradient of Mt. Olympus, a legendary mountain and biodiversity hotspot in Central Greece. We explored 10 study sites located on the north-eastern slope of the mountain, from 327 to 2596 m a.s.l. Insect surveys were conducted once a month using hand netting (years 2013, 2014 and 2016), and they were combined with recordings of flowering plant diversity (species richness and flower cover). We then calculated α- and β-diversity of pollinators, plants in flower and plant-pollinator interactions, and explored their demographic response along the altitudinal gradient. Alpha diversity of pollinators, plants and plant-pollinator interactions were altitude dependent; α-diversity of all pollinators, bees, non-bumblebee bees, bee flies and butterflies showed linear declines with altitude, whereas those of hoverflies and bumblebees showed unimodal patterns. Beta diversity and its turnover component of all pollinators, hoverflies, bees, bumblebees, non-bumblebee bees, butterflies and plants showed linear increases, whereas those of bee flies and of plant-pollinator interactions varied independently from the pairwise altitudinal difference. The high dissimilarity and uniqueness of pollination networks, which is probably a result of the high biodiversity and endemism of Mt. Olympus, is driven by species turnover and the formation of new interactions between new species. Contrasting to the monotonic decline of the remaining groups, the unimodal patterns of hoverfly and bumblebee α-diversity are probably the effect of a higher tolerance of these groups to high-altitude environmental conditions. Our findings highlight that the high turnover of species and of pollination interactions along the altitudinal gradient are the mainstay of hyperdiverse mountains, a fact that conveys important historical, ecological and conservational implications.
我们研究了奥林匹斯山（希腊中部的一座传奇山脉和生物多样性热点地区）海拔梯度上的传粉者、开花植物和植物-传粉者相互作用的 α-和 β-多样性。我们在奥林匹斯山东北坡的 10 个研究点进行了研究，海拔从 327 米到 2596 米。2013 年、2014 年和 2016 年，我们每月使用手持网进行一次昆虫调查，并结合开花植物多样性（物种丰富度和花盖度）的记录。然后，我们计算了传粉者、开花植物和植物-传粉者相互作用的 α-和 β-多样性，并沿着海拔梯度探索了它们的种群响应。传粉者、植物和植物-传粉者相互作用的 α-多样性与海拔有关；所有传粉者、蜜蜂、非熊蜂蜜蜂、熊蜂蝇和蝴蝶的 α-多样性均随海拔线性下降，而食蚜蝇和熊蜂的 α-多样性则呈单峰模式。所有传粉者、食蚜蝇、蜜蜂、熊蜂、非熊蜂蜜蜂、蝴蝶和植物的 β-多样性及其周转率成分呈线性增加，而熊蜂蝇和植物-传粉者相互作用的 β-多样性则独立于两两海拔差异而变化。传粉网络的高度不相似性和独特性可能是由于奥林匹斯山的高生物多样性和特有性，是由物种更替和新物种之间新相互作用的形成所驱动的。与其余组单调下降形成对比的是，食蚜蝇和熊蜂 α-多样性的单峰模式可能是这些组对高海拔环境条件具有更高耐受性的结果。我们的研究结果强调，物种和传粉相互作用沿海拔梯度的高周转率是高山高度多样化的基础，这一事实传达了重要的历史、生态和保护意义。
