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DNA metabarcoding unveils the effects of habitat fragmentation on pollinator diversity, plant-pollinator interactions, and pollination efficiency in tropical islands
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  • Nicola Tommasi,
  • PAOLO BIELLA,
  • Davide Maggioni,
  • Luca Fallati,
  • Giulia Agostinetto,
  • Massimo Labra,
  • Paolo Galli,
  • Andrea Galimberti
Nicola Tommasi
University of Milan–Bicocca

Corresponding Author:nicola.tommasi@unimib.it

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PAOLO BIELLA
University of Milan–Bicocca
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Davide Maggioni
University of Milan–Bicocca
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Luca Fallati
University of Milan–Bicocca
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Giulia Agostinetto
University of Milan–Bicocca
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Massimo Labra
University of Milan–Bicocca
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Paolo Galli
University of Milan–Bicocca
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Andrea Galimberti
University of Milan–Bicocca
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Abstract

Habitat fragmentation is known to affect biodiversity, but the impact on pollinators and their interactions with plants is still unclear in anthropized landscapes. Islands are open-air laboratories for ecological studies with simplified communities and interactions, suitable to disentangle how land-use alteration impacts pollination ecology and its ecosystem service. Here, we used Maldives islands as model systems to investigate how pollinator richness, their mutualistic interactions with plants, and pollination efficiency are shaped by the degree of green area fragmentation (i.e., gardens, parks and semi-natural green covered patches), by considering both community- and species-level responses. To do this, we surveyed pollinators from 11 islands showing a gradient of green area fragmentation. In order to characterize the interactions between plants and pollinators and obtain a novel and comprehensive view of the key ecological dynamics, a DNA metabarcoding approach was adopted to identify the pollen carried by pollinators. We found that green area fragmentation at intermediate levels played positive effects on pollinator richness. However, fragmentation decreased interaction network complexity. Intriguingly, body size mediated the effect of landscape alteration on plant-pollinator interactions, as only the largest bee species expanded the foraging breath in terms of transported pollen richness at increasing fragmentation. In parallel, the pollination efficiency increased with pollinator species richness in two sentinel plants. This study shows that moderate landscape fragmentation of green areas shapes the ecosystem service of pollination, where in spite of interactions being less complex and mediated by pollinator body size, pollinator biodiversity and potential plant reproduction are supported.
30 Nov 2021Submitted to Molecular Ecology
01 Dec 2021Submission Checks Completed
01 Dec 2021Assigned to Editor
17 Dec 2021Reviewer(s) Assigned
13 Feb 2022Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
02 Mar 2022Editorial Decision: Revise Minor
01 Apr 2022Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
01 Apr 20221st Revision Received
11 Apr 2022Editorial Decision: Revise Minor
26 Apr 2022Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
26 Apr 20222nd Revision Received
05 May 2022Editorial Decision: Accept