Increased resource availability prevents the disruption of key ecological interactions in disturbed habitats

Abstract

© 2017 Fontúrbel et al. Anthropogenic disturbance can modify habitat structure and resource availability, potentially disrupting ecological interactions. This issue may be critical for pollination and seed dispersal, which determine natural regeneration. The mistletoe Tristerix corymbosus is almost exclusively pollinated by a hummingbird (Sephanoides sephaniodes) and dispersed by a marsupial (Dromiciops gliroides). We examined the extent to which human-induced habitat change and resource availability influence the interaction rate of this plant-pollinator-seed disperser system, along a forest transformation gradient (from native forest to exotic plantations). We estimated visitation rates of S. sephaniodes and D. gliroides on 70 T. corymbosus mistletoes using camera traps. We related visitation rates to habitat structural features and resource availability (flowers and fruits of the mistletoe and the neighborhood) using spatially explicit models. Sephanoides sephaniodes and D. gliroide