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The species composition of local communities varies in space, and its similarity generally decreases with increasing geographic distance between communities, a phenomenon known as distance decay of similarity. It is, however, not known how changes in local species composition affect ecological processes, that is, whether they lead to differences in the local composition of species' functional roles. We studied eight seed-dispersal networks along the South American Andes and compared them with regard to their species composition and their composition of functional roles. We tested (1) if changes in bird species composition lead to changes in the composition of bird functional roles, and (2) if the similarity in species composition and functional-role composition decreased with increasing geographic distance between the networks. We also used cluster analysis to (3) identify bird species with similar roles across all networks based on the similarity in the plants they consume, (i) considering only the species identity of the plants and (ii) considering the functional traits of the plants. Despite strong changes in species composition, the networks along the Andes showed similar composition of functional roles. (1) Changes in species composition generally did not lead to changes in the composition of functional roles. (2) Similarity in species composition, but not functional-role composition, decreased with increasing geographic distance between the networks. (3) The cluster analysis considering the functional traits of plants identified bird species with similar functional roles across all networks. The similarity in functional roles despite the high species turnover suggests that the ecological process of seed dispersal is organized similarly along the Andes, with similar functional roles fulfilled locally by different sets of species. The high species turnover, relative to functional turnover, also indicates that a large number of bird species are needed to maintain the seed-dispersal process along the Andes., (© 2020 The Authors. Ecology published byWiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Ecological Society of America.)

Human-induced changes in anthropogenic landscapes are a predominant threat to biodiversity and have been documented to affect mutualistic interactions between plants and animals, such as avian seed dispersal. Interactions between fleshy-fruited plants and frugivorous birds are highly seasonal in temperate ecosystems. Nevertheless, combined effects of landscape modification and seasonal variation on plant-frugivore interactions have never been assessed from a network perspective. Here, we present the first study that simultaneously investigates effects of landscape modification and seasonal variation on plant-frugivore interactions and on functional and interaction diversity of plant-frugivore networks. We recorded visitation rates of 39 frugivorous bird species to 28 fruiting-plant species in Central Germany from early summer to late autumn in hedgerows within three landscape types arranged along a gradient of decreasing anthropogenic modification and increasing structural diversity (i.e., farmland, orchard, forest edge). We analyzed how species richness, abundance, and community composition, as well as functional and interaction diversity of fruiting plants and frugivorous birds changed with landscape type, fruit availability, and season. We found that visitation rates of frugivorous birds were lower in farmland, but only in summer. In autumn, visitation rates were similar in all landscape types and strongly increased with increasing local fruit availability. The functional diversity of fruits and frugivorous birds and their interaction diversity remained surprisingly constant in all landscape types. Due to seasonal changes in communities of fruiting plants and frugivorous birds, functional dispersion of fruiting plants was lower in autumn than in summer, whereas functional richness and dispersion of frugivorous birds was higher in autumn than in summer. Our results indicate that seasonal changes in fruit availability influence the abundance of frugivorous birds along gradients of structural diversity at the landscape scale. Although seasonal fluctuations influenced the functional diversity of avian frugivore communities, we found constant interaction diversity of plant-frugivore networks in space and time, probably due to the functional redundancy of frugivorous birds. These findings indicate a high robustness of avian frugivory to moderate levels of human-induced landscape modification in temperate ecosystems and call for studies testing the generality of these findings for ultimate avian seed dispersal functions.

The degree of interdependence and potential for shared coevolutionary history of frugivorous animals and fleshy-fruited plants are contentious topics. Recently, network analyses revealed that mutualistic relationships between fleshy-fruited plants and frugivores are mostly built upon generalized associations. However, little is known about the determinants of network structure, especially from tropical forests where plants' dependence on animal seed dispersal is particularly high. Here, we present an in-depth analysis of specialization and interaction strength in a plant-frugivore network from a Kenyan rain forest. We recorded fruit removal from 33 plant species in different forest strata (canopy, midstory, understory) and habitats (primary and secondary forest) with a standardized sampling design (3447 interactions in 924 observation hours). We classified the 88 frugivore species into guilds according to dietary specialization (14 obligate, 28 partial, 46 opportunistic frugivores) and forest dependence (50 forest species, 38 visitors). Overall, complementary specialization was similar to that in other plant-frugivore networks. However, the plant-frugivore interactions in the canopy stratum were less specialized than in the mid- and understory, whereas primary and secondary forest did not differ. Plant specialization on frugivores decreased with plant height, and obligate and partial frugivores were less specialized than opportunistic frugivores. The overall impact of a frugivore increased with the number of visits and the specialization on specific plants. Moreover, interaction strength of frugivores differed among forest strata. Obligate frugivores foraged in the canopy where fruit resources were abundant, whereas partial and opportunistic frugivores were more common on mid- and understory plants, respectively. We conclude that the vertical stratification of the frugivore community into obligate and opportunistic feeding guilds structures this plant-frugivore network. The canopy stratum comprises stronger links and generalized associations, whereas the lower strata are composed of weaker links and more specialized interactions. Our results suggest that seed-dispersal relationships of plants in lower forest strata are more prone to disruption than those of canopy trees.