| Publications [#168028] of Stuart L. Pimm
Papers Published
- Joppa, Lucas N. and Bascompte, Jordi and Montoya, Jose M. and Sole, Ricard V. and Sanderson, Jim and Pimm, Stuart L., Reciprocal specialization in ecological networks,
ECOLOGY LETTERS, vol. 12 no. 9
(September, 2009),
pp. 961-969, ISSN 1461-023X
(last updated on 2009/12/26)
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.
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