Reciprocal specialization in ecological networks.
Ecol Lett
; 12(9): 961-9, 2009 Sep.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-19566586
ABSTRACT
Theories suggest that food webs might consist of groups of species forming 'blocks', 'compartments' or 'guilds'. We consider ecological networks - subsets of complete food webs - involving species at adjacent trophic levels. Reciprocal specializations occur when (say) a pollinator (or group of pollinators) specializes on a particular flower species (or group of such species) and vice versa. Such specializations tend to group species into guilds. We characterize the level of reciprocal specialization for both antagonistic interactions - particularly parasitoids and their hosts - and mutualistic ones - such as insects and the flowers that they pollinate. We also examine whether trophic patterns might be 'palimpsests'- that is, there might be reciprocal specialization within taxonomically related species within a network, but these might be obscured when these relationships are combined. Reciprocal specializations are rare in all these systems when tested against the most conservative null model.
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Ecossistema
Limite:
Animals
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2009
Tipo de documento:
Article