DOI: 10.5061/dryad.z08kprrcq
title: Changes in the structure of seed dispersal networks when including interaction outcomes from both plant and animal perspectives

description: Interaction frequency is the most common currency in quantitative
 ecological networks, although interaction quality can also affect benefits
 provided by mutualisms. Here, we evaluate if interaction quality can
 modify network topology, species’ role and whether such changes affect
 community vulnerability to species loss. We use a well-examined study
 system (bird-lizard and fleshy-fruited plants in the ‘thermophilous’
 woodland of the Canary Islands) to compare network and species-level
 metrics from a network based on fruit consumption rates (Interaction
 Frequency, IF), against networks reflecting functional outcomes: a Seed
 Dispersal Effectiveness network (SDE) quantifying recruitment, and a Fruit
 Resource Provisioning network (FRP), accounting for the nutrient supply of
 fruits. Nestedness decreased in the FRP and the SDE networks, due to the
 lack of association between fruit consumption rates and (1) nutrient
 content, and (2) recruitment at the seed deposition sites, respectively.
 The FRP network showed lower niche overlap due to resource use
 complementarity among frugivores. Interaction evenness was lower in the
 SDE network, in response to a higher dominance of lizards in the
 recruitment of heliophilous species. Such changes, however, did not result
 in enhanced vulnerability against extinctions. At the plant species level,
 strength changed in the FRP network in frequently consumed or highly
 nutritious species. The number of effective partners decreased for species
 whose seeds were deposited in unsuitable places for recruitment. In
 frugivores, strength was consistent across networks (SDE vs IF), showing
 that consumption rates outweighed differences in dispersal quality. In the
 case of lizards, the increased importance of nutrient-rich species
 resulted in a higher number of effective partners. Our work shows that
 although frequency strongly impacts interaction effects, accounting for
 quality improves our inferences about interaction assembly and species
 role. Thus, future studies including interaction outcomes from both
 partners’ perspectives will provide valuable insights about the net
 effects of mutualistic interactions.
description: Data from manuscript "Changes in the structure of seed
 dispersal networks when including interaction outcomes from both plant and
 animal perspectives" <br>by Aarón González-Castro, Teresa Morán
 López, Manuel Nogales and Anna Traveset.
 DOI:10.1111/oik.08315
description: Simulations_outputs.RData file contains results from simulations
 performed to obtain: IF (interaction frequency), FRP
 (fruit resource provisioning) and SDE (seed dispersal effectiveness)
 networks. Datasets are organized in arrays that have the structure
 [plants, animals, repetitions]. For example, FRP[,,1] contains the first
 repetition for the fruit resource provisioning network.
 Dryad_upload.xls file contains mean networks (across 10000
 repetitions) of IF, FRP and SDE. Also, results from
 stochastic coextinction models (SCMs) according to scripts provided by
 Vieira et al. 2015 (https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.12394) Full description of field methods can be found in the article main text, as well as in González-Castro et al. 2015 (https://doi.org/10.1890/14-0655.1). Full description of simulations to obtain IF, SDE and FRP networks can be found in the main text and in the supplementary material. Read_me.txt contains a more detailed description of files uploaded.