Network motifs involving both competition and facilitation predict biodiversity in alpine plant communities

Gianalberto Losapio; Christian Schöb; Phillip P.A. Staniczenko; Francesco Carrara; Gian Marco Palamara; Consuelo M. de Moraes; Mark C. Mescher; Rob W. Brooker; Bradley J. Butterfield; Ragan M. Callaway; Lohengrin A. Cavieres; Zaal Kikvidze; Christopher J. Lortie; Richard Michalet; Francisco I. Pugnaire; Jordi Bascompte

doi:10.1073/pnas.2005759118

Network motifs involving both competition and facilitation predict biodiversity in alpine plant communities

Gianalberto Losapio, Christian Schöb, Phillip P.A. Staniczenko, Francesco Carrara, Gian Marco Palamara, Consuelo M. de Moraes, Mark C. Mescher, Rob W. Brooker, Bradley J. Butterfield, Ragan M. Callaway, Lohengrin A. Cavieres, Zaal Kikvidze, Christopher J. Lortie, Richard Michalet, Francisco I. Pugnaire, Jordi Bascompte

Division of Biological and Biomedical Sciences

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

65 Scopus citations

Abstract

Biological diversity depends on multiple, cooccurring ecological interactions. However, most studies focus on one interaction type at a time, leaving community ecologists unsure of how positive and negative associations among species combine to influence biodiversity patterns. Using surveys of plant populations in alpine communities worldwide, we explore patterns of positive and negative associations among triads of species (modules) and their relationship to local biodiversity. Three modules, each incorporating both positive and negative associations, were overrepresented, thus acting as "network motifs." Furthermore, the overrepresentation of these network motifs is positively linked to species diversity globally. A theoretical model illustrates that these network motifs, based on competition between facilitated species or facilitation between inferior competitors, increase local persistence. Our findings suggest that the interplay of competition and facilitation is crucial for maintaining biodiversity.

Original language	English
Article number	e2005759118
Journal	Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Volume	118
Issue number	6
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2005759118
State	Published - Feb 9 2021

Funding

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. We thank Andreas Scheidegger at the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag) for his statistical advice. We are grateful to Lilian Dutoit for providing linguistic comments on an early version of the manuscript. We thank Sa Xiao, Fabien Anthelme, Robert G. Björk, Katharine J. M. Dickinson, Brittany H. Cranston, Rosario Gavilán, Alba Gutiérrez‐Girón, Robert Kanka, Daniel Llambí, Jean‐Paul Maalouf, Alan F. Mark, Jalil Noroozi, Rabindra Parajuli, Gareth K. Phoenix, Anya M. Reid, Wendy M. Ridenour, Christian Rixen, Sonja Wipf, Liang Zhao, Adrián Escudero, Benjamin F. Zaitchik, Emanuele Lingua, and Erik T. Aschehoug for helping and for contributing to data collection. G.L. was supported by the ETH Biocommunication group and by the Swiss National Science Foundation (Grant P2ZHP3_187938). C.S. and J.B. were supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation (Grant PPOOP3_170645, Grant 31003A_169671). R.W.B. was supported by the Rural and Environment Science and Analytical Services Division of the Scottish Government through the Strategic Research Programme 2016–2021. R.M.C. acknowledges support from the NSF Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research Cooperative Agreement (Grant OIA-1757351). Z.K. is grateful to the Ilia State University Professor Research Programme. F.I.P. was supported by the Spanish Research Agency (Grant CGL2017-84515-R). We thank the associate editor and two anonymous reviewers for commenting on a previous version of the manuscript. We thank Andreas Scheidegger at the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag) for his statistical advice. We are grateful to Lilian Dutoit for providing linguistic comments on an early version of the manuscript. We thank Sa Xiao, Fabien Anthelme, Robert G. Bj?rk, Katharine J. M. Dickinson, Brittany H. Cranston, Rosario Gavil?n, Alba Guti?rrez?Gir?n, Robert Kanka, Daniel Llamb?, Jean?Paul Maalouf, Alan F. Mark, Jalil Noroozi, Rabindra Parajuli, Gareth K. Phoenix, Anya M. Reid, Wendy M. Ridenour, Christian Rixen, Sonja Wipf, Liang Zhao, Adri?n Escudero, Benjamin F. Zaitchik, Emanuele Lingua, and Erik T. Aschehoug for helping and for contributing to data collection. G.L. was supported by the ETH Biocommunication group and by the Swiss National Science Foundation (Grant P2ZHP3_187938). C.S. and J.B. were supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation (Grant PPOOP3_170645, Grant 31003A_169671). R.W.B. was supported by the Rural and Environment Science and Analytical Services Division of the Scottish Government through the Strategic Research Programme 2016-2021. R.M.C. acknowledges support from the NSF Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research Cooperative Agreement (Grant OIA-1757351). Z.K. is grateful to the Ilia State University Professor Research Programme. F.I.P. was supported by the Spanish Research Agency (Grant CGL2017-84515-R). We thank the associate editor and two anonymous reviewers for commenting on a previous version of the manuscript.

Funders	Funder number
CGL2017-84515-R
OIA-1757351
Scottish Government
P2ZHP3_187938, PPOOP3_170645, 31003A_169671
Ilia State University

Keywords

Biodiversity change
Community ecology
Ecological networks
Mountain ecosystems
Plant interaction networks

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10.1073/pnas.2005759118

Cite this

Losapio, G., Schöb, C., Staniczenko, P. P. A., Carrara, F., Palamara, G. M., de Moraes, C. M., Mescher, M. C., Brooker, R. W., Butterfield, B. J., Callaway, R. M., Cavieres, L. A., Kikvidze, Z., Lortie, C. J., Michalet, R., Pugnaire, F. I., & Bascompte, J. (2021). Network motifs involving both competition and facilitation predict biodiversity in alpine plant communities. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 118(6), Article e2005759118. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2005759118

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title = "Network motifs involving both competition and facilitation predict biodiversity in alpine plant communities",

abstract = "Biological diversity depends on multiple, cooccurring ecological interactions. However, most studies focus on one interaction type at a time, leaving community ecologists unsure of how positive and negative associations among species combine to influence biodiversity patterns. Using surveys of plant populations in alpine communities worldwide, we explore patterns of positive and negative associations among triads of species (modules) and their relationship to local biodiversity. Three modules, each incorporating both positive and negative associations, were overrepresented, thus acting as {"}network motifs.{"} Furthermore, the overrepresentation of these network motifs is positively linked to species diversity globally. A theoretical model illustrates that these network motifs, based on competition between facilitated species or facilitation between inferior competitors, increase local persistence. Our findings suggest that the interplay of competition and facilitation is crucial for maintaining biodiversity.",

keywords = "Biodiversity change, Community ecology, Ecological networks, Mountain ecosystems, Plant interaction networks",

author = "Gianalberto Losapio and Christian Sch{\"o}b and Staniczenko, \{Phillip P.A.\} and Francesco Carrara and Palamara, \{Gian Marco\} and \{de Moraes\}, \{Consuelo M.\} and Mescher, \{Mark C.\} and Brooker, \{Rob W.\} and Butterfield, \{Bradley J.\} and Callaway, \{Ragan M.\} and Cavieres, \{Lohengrin A.\} and Zaal Kikvidze and Lortie, \{Christopher J.\} and Richard Michalet and Pugnaire, \{Francisco I.\} and Jordi Bascompte",

year = "2021",

month = feb,

day = "9",

doi = "10.1073/pnas.2005759118",

language = "English",

volume = "118",

journal = "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America",

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Losapio, G, Schöb, C, Staniczenko, PPA, Carrara, F, Palamara, GM, de Moraes, CM, Mescher, MC, Brooker, RW, Butterfield, BJ, Callaway, RM, Cavieres, LA, Kikvidze, Z, Lortie, CJ, Michalet, R, Pugnaire, FI & Bascompte, J 2021, 'Network motifs involving both competition and facilitation predict biodiversity in alpine plant communities', Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 118, no. 6, e2005759118. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2005759118

Network motifs involving both competition and facilitation predict biodiversity in alpine plant communities. / Losapio, Gianalberto; Schöb, Christian; Staniczenko, Phillip P.A. et al.
In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Vol. 118, No. 6, e2005759118, 09.02.2021.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

TY - JOUR

T1 - Network motifs involving both competition and facilitation predict biodiversity in alpine plant communities

AU - Losapio, Gianalberto

AU - Schöb, Christian

AU - Staniczenko, Phillip P.A.

AU - Carrara, Francesco

AU - Palamara, Gian Marco

AU - de Moraes, Consuelo M.

AU - Mescher, Mark C.

AU - Brooker, Rob W.

AU - Butterfield, Bradley J.

AU - Callaway, Ragan M.

AU - Cavieres, Lohengrin A.

AU - Kikvidze, Zaal

AU - Lortie, Christopher J.

AU - Michalet, Richard

AU - Pugnaire, Francisco I.

AU - Bascompte, Jordi

PY - 2021/2/9

Y1 - 2021/2/9

N2 - Biological diversity depends on multiple, cooccurring ecological interactions. However, most studies focus on one interaction type at a time, leaving community ecologists unsure of how positive and negative associations among species combine to influence biodiversity patterns. Using surveys of plant populations in alpine communities worldwide, we explore patterns of positive and negative associations among triads of species (modules) and their relationship to local biodiversity. Three modules, each incorporating both positive and negative associations, were overrepresented, thus acting as "network motifs." Furthermore, the overrepresentation of these network motifs is positively linked to species diversity globally. A theoretical model illustrates that these network motifs, based on competition between facilitated species or facilitation between inferior competitors, increase local persistence. Our findings suggest that the interplay of competition and facilitation is crucial for maintaining biodiversity.

AB - Biological diversity depends on multiple, cooccurring ecological interactions. However, most studies focus on one interaction type at a time, leaving community ecologists unsure of how positive and negative associations among species combine to influence biodiversity patterns. Using surveys of plant populations in alpine communities worldwide, we explore patterns of positive and negative associations among triads of species (modules) and their relationship to local biodiversity. Three modules, each incorporating both positive and negative associations, were overrepresented, thus acting as "network motifs." Furthermore, the overrepresentation of these network motifs is positively linked to species diversity globally. A theoretical model illustrates that these network motifs, based on competition between facilitated species or facilitation between inferior competitors, increase local persistence. Our findings suggest that the interplay of competition and facilitation is crucial for maintaining biodiversity.

KW - Biodiversity change

KW - Community ecology

KW - Ecological networks

KW - Mountain ecosystems

KW - Plant interaction networks

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85100612794

U2 - 10.1073/pnas.2005759118

DO - 10.1073/pnas.2005759118

M3 - Article

C2 - 33526655

AN - SCOPUS:85100612794

SN - 0027-8424

VL - 118

JO - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

JF - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

IS - 6

M1 - e2005759118

ER -

Network motifs involving both competition and facilitation predict biodiversity in alpine plant communities

Abstract

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Keywords

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