Frugivorous bats in Tropical dry forests: fragmentation alters mutualistic network structure

Frugivorous bats in Tropical dry forests: fragmentation alters mutualistic network structure | Authorea try { document.documentElement.classList.add('js'); } catch (e) { } var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'G-8VDV14Y67G']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })(); Skip to main content Preprints Collections Wiley Open Research IET Open Research Ecological Society of Japan All Collections About About Authorea FAQs Contact Us Quick Search anywhere Search for preprint articles, keywords, etc. Search Search ADVANCED SEARCH SCROLL This is a preprint and has not been peer reviewed. Data may be preliminary. 9 May 2025 V1 Latest version Share on Frugivorous bats in Tropical dry forests: fragmentation alters mutualistic network structure Authors : Tatiana Velásquez-Roa 0000-0001-8778-2874 [email protected] and Oscar Murillo-García 0000-0001-5040-7894 Authors Info & Affiliations https://doi.org/10.22541/au.174677960.05859795/v1 306 views 107 downloads Contents Abstract Supplementary Material Information & Authors Metrics & Citations View Options References Figures Tables Media Share Abstract Fragmentation impacts species composition in the forests by decreasing species richness, affecting species interactions essential for plant reproduction and forest maintenance. To understand fragmentation effects on plant-animal interactions, we assessed how the characteristics of a fragmented landscape influence an interaction network between frugivorous bats and plants in tropical forest remnants. We captured bats using mist nets and analyzed the seeds found in their feces to record their interaction with plants in 10 remnants of tropical dry forests (TDF) in Colombia. We then calculated landscape metrics for each remnant at different spatial scales to assess the effects of fragmentation on the interaction network properties of remnants. Additionally, we employed a multilayer interaction network approach to examine the spatial variation in bat-plant interactions across remnants. We captured 1142 bats representing 36 species and collected more than 19600 seeds from their feces, demonstrating bats’ vital role in seed dispersal and tropical dry forest health. We found higher levels of nestedness in smaller and more isolated remnants, suggesting a loss of specialist interactions and a shift toward more generalized associations. In contrast, modularity levels remained unaffected across remnants, likely due to the flexible nature of species interactions at different sites. The multilayer network indicates that plants and bats exhibited flexibility in their interactions across remnants, with plants showing greater variation than bats. This flexibility indicates species can adopt different functional roles depending on local remnant conditions. Results suggest that habitat fragmentation can disrupt the structure of ecological networks by reducing specialist interactions and promoting more generalized associations, leading to a loss of ecological complexity. Thus, maintaining large, heterogeneous, and less fragmented habitats is key to sustaining both bat and plant populations and the integrity of their mutualistic networks. Supplementary Material File (fragmentation effect on interactions network_finalversion.docx) Download 690.79 KB Information & Authors Information Version history V1 Version 1 09 May 2025 Copyright This work is licensed under a Non Exclusive No Reuse License. Keywords habitat loss landscape metrics multilayer network mutualism Authors Affiliations Tatiana Velásquez-Roa 0000-0001-8778-2874 [email protected] Texas State University View all articles by this author Oscar Murillo-García 0000-0001-5040-7894 Universidad del Valle View all articles by this author Metrics & Citations Metrics Article Usage 306 views 107 downloads .FvxKWukQNSOunydq8rnd { width: 100px; } Citations Download citation Tatiana Velásquez-Roa, Oscar Murillo-García. Frugivorous bats in Tropical dry forests: fragmentation alters mutualistic network structure. Authorea . 09 May 2025. DOI: https://doi.org/10.22541/au.174677960.05859795/v1 If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download. For more information or tips please see 'Downloading to a citation manager' in the Help menu . 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