Plant-pollinator networks in three habitats on a baltic island

• Main Author: Wallin, Jakob
• Format: Others
• Language: English
• Published: Högskolan på Gotland, Institutionen för kultur, energi och miljö 2011
• Subjects: pollination; network; ecology; habitats; generalist; specialist; Gotska Sandön; Gotland; biodiversity; ecosystem service; Terrestrial ecology; Terrestrisk ekologi
• Online Access: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hgo:diva-1009

Plant-pollinator networks have shown to be highly dynamic systems as species and interactions change in time and space. Few studies have incorporated several habitats in their network. In this work I investigate interacting plant and pollinator communities of three adjacent habitats at Gotska Sandön, an island in the Baltic Sea. The networks varied in size between the habitats, and the larger networks of the dune and meadow displayed both nested and modular structure while the smaller forest network was more randomly organised. We found species present in more than one habitat that connected the networks by forming inter-habitat modules of tightly linked species. Species took on different topological roles in the networks depending on how many links they formed and where these attached. The habitat generalists were important to overall network structure as role correlated with habitat generalisation level.