DOI: 10.5061/dryad.qnk98sfcw
title: Data from: Searching for keystone plant resources in fruit-frugivore interaction networks across the Neotropics

description: Identifying keystone plant resources (KPR) is a contentious issue in
 ecology and conservation. Despite recent advances provided by mutualistic
 networks, we still lack studies addressing large-scale identification of
 keystone plants. We developed a novel quantitative framework for the
 large-scale identification of KPR that combines centrality and effects of
 simulated removals on networks properties. We built a database with 38
 fruit-frugivore networks comprising 6180 pairwise interactions from
 Neotropical forest and non-forest ecosystems ranging from sea level to
 2,500 m a.s.l.. Effects of random removal simulations and removal of
 keystone taxa candidates on nestedness, modularity and niche overlap were
 assessed. Furthermore, we tested whether changes in network descriptors
 responded to both latitudinal and elevational gradients. From a total of
 373 genera on networks, only species in six genera were ranked as
 potential keystones. The simulated removal of species in Miconia
 (Melastomataceae), Cecropia (Urticaceae) and Byrsonima (Malpighiaceae) led
 to significant changes in nestedness, modularity and niche overlap,
 suggesting that these plants play important roles in maintaining the
 structure of Neotropical fruit-frugivore interaction networks, regardless
 of latitude or elevation. Our results confirm the keystone role of
 previously-recognized taxa, recognize overlooked ones, providing support
 for their role at a biogeographical scale, and partially challenge taxa
 traditionally identified as keystone resources for frugivores. Our study
 has implications for conservation and restoration of Neotropical
 ecosystems and provides a new framework for large-scale identification of
 keystones in any type of ecological networks.
description: We searched papers published from 1945 to 2017 in the Web of
 Science, Scopus and SciELO databases, using the following terms and their
 combinations in the title, abstract and keywords: <i>ecological
 networks</i>, <i>fruit-frugivore</i>, <i>frugivore
 community</i>, <i>frugivory</i>,
 <i>Neotropics</i>, <i>plant-seed disperser
 interaction</i>, <i>seed dispersal</i>. We also checked
 the Interaction Web Database (www.nceas.ucsb.edu/interactionweb/), the Web
 of Life Ecological Networks Database (http://www.web-of-life.es/) and the
 Atlantic-Frugivory dataset (Bello et al., 2017) to make sure we did not
 miss any study. Finally, we searched the references listed in the studies
 surveyed to build an extensive and updated database on Neotropical
 fruit-frugivore interactions. To be included in our
 database, a study must have reported interaction matrices between plant
 and bird species at the community-level, with sampling encompassing
 climatic seasonality for at least one year, to capture the seasonal
 variations in fruit-frugivore interactions (Ramos-Robles, Andresen
 & Díaz-Castelazo, 2016). Whenever the data were not clear, neither
 readily available, we asked the correspondent author for permission to use
 the original dataset. Some studies were then excluded from our database,
 because the authors did not reply or provide data. We
 organized the interaction datasets obtained for each site as interaction
 matrices, in which the plant species are represented in the rows and the
 bird species in the columns (nodes), and the interaction between them
 computed in the cells (links) (Bascompte et al., 2003). Since
 fruit-frugivore interaction datasets vary strongly in sampling effort and
 criteria for accounting interaction frequency (e.g. number of seeds
 present on feces; number of fruits consumed; number of visits; stomachal
 content), we transformed all data into binary matrices, where the presence
 of fruit-frugivore interaction is represented as 1 and the absence as 0
 and, therefore, ensuring that all networks report the same type of
 biological information (Bascompte et al., 2003; Jordano, 2016). Our
 literature survey resulted in 29 studies that matched our inclusion
 criteria, resulting in 38 fruit-frugivore networks (Appendix S1). These
 networks encompassed 31 forests and seven non-forests ecosystems,
 extending from 19º36' N to 27º30' S, with elevation ranging from
 30 to 2,500 m a.s.l. (Figure S1; Table S1).
description: When using this data please cite our publication 'Searching
 for keystone plant resources in fruit-frugivore interaction networks
 across the Neotropics' athored by Messeder, Guerra, Dáttilo &
 Silveira 2020 published in Biotropica. Additionally, please also cite the
 original publications which the data were derived.
 Please note that data from Hawes & Peres 2014 is
 available upon request to the original authors.