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How do fruit productivity, fruit traits and dietary specialization affect the role of birds in a mutualistic network?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 June 2019

Marcia L. Malanotte Open the ORCID record for Marcia L. Malanotte [Opens in a new window] ,
Tiago Machado-de-Souza ,
Ricardo P. Campos ,
Carmen L.O. Petkowicz  and
Isabela G. Varassin
Marcia L. Malanotte*
Affiliation:
Pós-Graduação em Ecologia e Conservação, Laboratório de Interações e Biologia Reprodutiva, Universidade Federal do Paraná
Tiago Machado-de-Souza
Affiliation:
Pós-Graduação em Ecologia e Conservação, Laboratório de Interações e Biologia Reprodutiva, Universidade Federal do Paraná
Ricardo P. Campos
Affiliation:
Pós-Graduação em Ecologia e Conservação, Laboratório de Interações e Biologia Reprodutiva, Universidade Federal do Paraná
Carmen L.O. Petkowicz
Affiliation:
Departamento de Bioquímica, Laboratório de Carboidratos Vegetais, Universidade Federal do Paraná
Isabela G. Varassin
Affiliation:
Departamento de Botânica, Laboratório de Interações e Biologia Reprodutiva, Universidade Federal do Paraná
*
*Author for correspondence: Marcia L. Malanotte, Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

Many plant traits might explain the different ecological and network roles of fruit-eating birds. We assessed the relationship of plant productivity, fruit traits (colour, seed size and nutritional quality) and dietary specialization, with the network roles of fruit-eating birds (number of partners, centrality and selectivity) in the Atlantic Forest, Brazil. We classified bird species according to their dietary specialization into three categories: obligate, partial and opportunistic fruit-eating birds. To test if network roles changed according to dietary specialization, fruit productivity and traits, we used a generalized linear model analysis. The selected 14 species of plant interacted with 52 bird species, which consumed 2199 fruits. The most central and generalist fruit-eating bird, Turdus albicolis, interacted with plants that produced more fruits, such as Miconia cinerascens, and had, on average, larger seeds, such as Myrcia splendens. The most selective birds interacted with fruits with a higher concentration of lipids and less intense colour, and plants that produced fewer fruits. Obligate fruit-eating birds, such as Patagioenas plumbea, were more selective than partial and opportunistic birds. Different plant traits are therefore related to the different network roles of fruit-eating birds in the Atlantic Forest, which are also dependent on bird dietary specialization.

Keywords

Atlantic Forestcolourinteractionnetwork metricsnutritional qualityseed dispersal
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 35 , Issue 5 , September 2019 , pp. 213 - 222
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 2019 

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