Reciprocity and interaction effectiveness in generalised mutualisms among free-living species.

Mutualistic interactions among free-living species generally involve low-frequency interactions and highly asymmetric dependence among partners, yet our understanding of factors behind their emergence is still limited. Using individual-based interactions of a super-generalist fleshy-fruited plant with its frugivore assemblage, we estimated the Resource Provisioning Effectiveness (RPE) and Seed Dispersal Effectiveness (SDE) to assess the balance in the exchange of resources. Plants were highly dependent on a few frugivore species, while frugivores interacted with most individual plants, resulting in strong asymmetries of mutual dependence. Interaction effectiveness was mainly driven by interaction frequency. Despite highly asymmetric dependences, the strong reliance on quantity of fruit consumed determined high reciprocity in rewards between partners (i.e. higher energy provided by the plant, more seedlings recruited), which was not obscured by minor variations in the quality of animal or plant service. We anticipate reciprocity will emerge in low-intimacy mutualisms where the mutualistic outcome largely relies upon interaction frequency.

FRUGIVORY CAMTRAP: A dataset of plant-animal interactions recorded with camera traps.

Ecological interactions are a key component of biodiversity, essential for understanding ecosystem services and functioning. Recording and quantifying ecological interactions is challenging, frequently requiring complex logistics and substantial effort in the field. Camera traps are routinely used in ecology for various applications, and have proven to be an excellent method for passive and non-invasive sampling of plant-animal interactions. We implemented a standardized camera trap protocol to document vertebrate frugivores-fleshy fruited plants interactions in Doñana National Park, SW Spain, with the central objective of inventorying the diversity of plant-animal ecological interactions providing seed dispersal services. From 2018 to 2023 we recorded pairwise interactions from which we obtained qualitative (presence-absence) and quantitative (frequency of visits) information. Each record in the dataset contains information of a visit by an individual animal to an individual plant, resulting in any form of fleshy-fruit use and provides information on visitation phenology, visit length, and feeding behavior. The dataset presented here includes 10,659 frugivory interaction events for 59 vertebrate species (46 birds, 13 mammals) recorded on 339 plant individuals from 13 different plant species which dominate the fleshy-fruited plant assemblage in the Doñana National Park. The most recorded animal species consuming fruits and playing a legitimate seed dispersal role was Curruca melanocephala (1678 records) among birds and Vulpes vulpes among mammals (751 records). Cervus elaphus, a fruit consumer with a marginal role as legitimate seed disperser, was the most recorded mammal species (1508 records). Avian frugivores, particularly those from the Sylviidae and Turdidae families, are widespread in the region and play a crucial role in maintaining the dispersal service for the fleshy-fruited plant populations in the area. The dataset offers highly versatile quantitative information that can be used to investigate frugivory from the highest resolution scale, the interaction event between pairs of individuals. In addition, other information that can be extracted includes the timing of interactions of animals and plants (their phenological couplings), activity periods of the animals, behavior during the events and preferences for individual plants within populations. There are no copyright restrictions on the data. When using the data from this data paper in publications, we kindly request that you cite the paper accordingly. Additionally, we encourage researchers and educators to inform us about how they are using this data, as we value feedback and would like to be aware of its various applications.