The nested assembly of plant–animal mutualistic networks
Open accessAbstract
Most studies of plant–animal mutualisms involve a small number of species. There is almost no information on the structural organization of species-rich mutualistic networks despite its potential importance for the maintenance of diversity. Here we analyze 52 mutualistic networks and show that they are highly nested; that is, the more specialist species interact only with proper subsets of those species interacting with the more generalists. This assembly pattern generates highly asymmetrical interactions and organizes the community cohesively around a central core of interactions. Thus, mutualistic networks are neither randomly assembled nor organized in compartments arising from tight, parallel specialization. Furthermore, nestedness increases with the complexity (number of interactions) of the network: for a given number of species, communities with more interactions are significantly more nested. Our results indicate a nonrandom pattern of community organization that may be relevant for our understanding of the organization and persistence of biodiversity.
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The Bayesian group model, and the general framework for modeling and model selection, naturally extend to other kinds of biological networks, such as metabolic and regulatory networks and networks describing other ecological interactions such as pollination.
“The Bayesian group model, and, more importantly, the general framework for modeling and model selection, naturally extend to other kinds of biological networks, such as metabolic and regulatory networks [55] and networks describing other ecological interactions such as pollination [56].”
From Spatial Guilds in the Serengeti Food Web Revealed by a Bayesian Group Model (2011) · cites this paper as [56]
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“The Bayesian group model, and, more importantly, the general framework for modeling and model selection, naturally extend to other kinds of biological networks, such as metabolic and regulatory networks [55] and networks describing other ecological interactions such as pollination [56].”
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- Authors
- Bascompte, J., Jordano, P., Melián, C. J., & Olesen, J. M.
- Affiliations
- Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (ES)
- Venue
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- Publisher
- National Academy of Sciences
- Published
- 2003-07-24
- Volume
- 100
- Issue
- 16
- Pages
- 9383-9387
- ISSN
- 0027-8424 (ISSN-L)
- 1091-6490
- PMC
- PMC170927
- OpenAlex
- W2168793216
- Cited by
- 2,497
- References
- 1
- Citations by year
- 2026: 117 · 2025: 134 · 2024: 120 · 2023: 133 · 2022: 151 · 2021: 158 · 2020: 158 · 2019: 153 · 2018: 188 · 2017: 124 · 2016: 125 · 2015: 127 · 2014: 125 · 2013: 112 · 2012: 114
- FWCI
- 25.85
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- europepmc.org
- Locations
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DIGITAL.CSIC (Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics › Plant and animal studies
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Nature and Landscape Conservation › Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Insect and Arachnid Ecology and Behavior
- Keywords
- plant-animal mutualism, mutualistic networks, nestedness, network assembly, specialization, interaction asymmetry, network complexity, biodiversity persistence, community organizations, species richness
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Animal Population Groups, Climate, Ecology, Biological Evolution, Host-Parasite Interactions, Models, Theoretical, Population Dynamics, Ecosystem, Plant Physiological Phenomena
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