Integration of alien plants into a native flower–pollinator visitation web

Introduced alien species influence many ecosystem services, including pollination of plants by animals. We extend the scope of recent 'single species' studies by analysing how alien plant species integrate themselves into a native flower visitation web. Historical records for a community i...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the Royal Society. B, Biological sciences Biological sciences, 2002-12, Vol.269 (1508), p.2395-2399
Main Authors: Memmott, Jane, Waser, Nickolas M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Birds - physiology
Connectance
Diet
Ecosystem
Feeding Behavior
Flowers
Food Web
Generalization
Insect pollination
Insecta - classification
Insecta - physiology
Introduced plants
Introduced Species
Native plants
Plant Development
Plant Physiological Phenomena
Plants
Plants - classification
Pollen
Pollinating insects
Pollination
Spider webs
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Summary:Introduced alien species influence many ecosystem services, including pollination of plants by animals. We extend the scope of recent 'single species' studies by analysing how alien plant species integrate themselves into a native flower visitation web. Historical records for a community in central USA show that 456 plant species received visits from 1429 insect and 1 hummingbird species, yielding 15 265 unique interactions. Aliens comprised 12.3% of all plant species, whereas only a few insects were alien. On average, the flowers of alien plants were visited by significantly fewer animal species than those of native plants. Most of these visitors were generalists, visiting many other plant species. The web of interactions between flowers and visitors was less richly connected for alien plants than for natives; nonetheless, aliens were well integrated into the native web. Because most visitors appear to be pollinators, this integration implies possible competitive and facilitative interactions between native and alien plants, mediated through animal visitors to flowers.
ISSN:0962-8452
1471-2954
DOI:10.1098/rspb.2002.2174