Periodic Reporting for period 1 - ECORISC (Understanding resilience of seed dispersal in insular systems to climate change)
Période du rapport: 2022-07-01 au 2024-06-30
The ECORISC project addresses a pressing global issue: the impact of climate change and other synergistic drivers on seed dispersal, which is a crucial ecosystem process for maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. Seed dispersal networks involve complex interactions between plants and their seed dispersers, such as birds and other animals, which play a pivotal role in maintaining healthy ecosystems by facilitating plant reproduction and diversity. As climate change accelerates, its effects on ecological systems become increasingly severe. Rising temperatures, changing precipitation patterns, and other climate-induced alterations are reshaping habitats and species distributions. This is especially critical on islands, which, despite comprising only 5.3% of global land area, harbor around 30% of biodiversity hotspots and many threatened species. Islands’ ecosystems are highly sensitive to invasive species and environmental changes, making them more vulnerable to the compounded impacts of climate change. Understanding how seed-dispersal networks on islands respond to these threats is essential for predicting ecological outcomes and informing conservation strategies.
The ECORISC project aims to provide a comprehensive analysis of how climate change affects seed-dispersal networks. The project is structured around three main objectives:
(1) The first objective was to revisit a global dataset of seed-dispersal networks, encompassing interactions between plants and their dispersers across various ecosystems and islands. This dataset includes approximately 225 networks, with detailed information on plant and disperser species and their main functional traits. By analyzing the plant and frugivore assemblages of those networks, we gain insights into their structure and patterns, which are critical for understanding how different networks might respond to climate change or invasive species.
(2) The second objective focuses on evaluating the vulnerability of plants to climate change by examining the redundancy and complementarity of their dispersers' climatic niches. This further involves involves estimating how shifts in climate might affect plant-disperser interactions and whether ecosystems are more likely to collapse from the bottom up (i.e. plant's are lost first), top down (i.e. dispersers are lost first), or all at once, as climate change continues.
(3) The third objective investigates how climate change affects the structure and function of seed-dispersal networks. This includes assessing potential structural changes, such as shifts in network modularity, and functional consequences, like declines in long-distance seed dispersal. By using simulation models and real-world data, we explore how climate-induced extinctions and changes in species traits influence seed dispersal functions.
The results of the ECORISC project are expected to contribute to the broader field of ecological research and conservation. By developing a novel framework for assessing both species vulnerability and ecosystem functions, the project will provide valuable insights into how global change impacts seed-dispersal networks and their associated ecological functions. This understanding will be crucial for informing conservation strategies and policy-making, particularly in identifying which species and ecosystems are most at risk and developing targeted interventions to mitigate these risks. Through this project, we aim to advance scientific knowledge, influence conservation practices, and contribute to global efforts to address climate change impacts on ecological systems.
The ECORISC project aims to provide a comprehensive analysis of how climate change affects seed-dispersal networks. The project is structured around three main objectives:
(1) The first objective was to revisit a global dataset of seed-dispersal networks, encompassing interactions between plants and their dispersers across various ecosystems and islands. This dataset includes approximately 225 networks, with detailed information on plant and disperser species and their main functional traits. By analyzing the plant and frugivore assemblages of those networks, we gain insights into their structure and patterns, which are critical for understanding how different networks might respond to climate change or invasive species.
(2) The second objective focuses on evaluating the vulnerability of plants to climate change by examining the redundancy and complementarity of their dispersers' climatic niches. This further involves involves estimating how shifts in climate might affect plant-disperser interactions and whether ecosystems are more likely to collapse from the bottom up (i.e. plant's are lost first), top down (i.e. dispersers are lost first), or all at once, as climate change continues.
(3) The third objective investigates how climate change affects the structure and function of seed-dispersal networks. This includes assessing potential structural changes, such as shifts in network modularity, and functional consequences, like declines in long-distance seed dispersal. By using simulation models and real-world data, we explore how climate-induced extinctions and changes in species traits influence seed dispersal functions.
The results of the ECORISC project are expected to contribute to the broader field of ecological research and conservation. By developing a novel framework for assessing both species vulnerability and ecosystem functions, the project will provide valuable insights into how global change impacts seed-dispersal networks and their associated ecological functions. This understanding will be crucial for informing conservation strategies and policy-making, particularly in identifying which species and ecosystems are most at risk and developing targeted interventions to mitigate these risks. Through this project, we aim to advance scientific knowledge, influence conservation practices, and contribute to global efforts to address climate change impacts on ecological systems.
The ECORISC project undertook a comprehensive investigation into the effects of climate change and other global drivers on plant-frugivore seed-dispersal networks. The research was structured into three main work packages (WPs), each addressing different facets of the project’s objectives.
Activities of WP1:
- Compiled an extensive global dataset of approximately 225 seed-dispersal networks, including both continental and island systems. This dataset encompasses over 3,500 plant species and their interactions with various seed dispersers.
- Conducted detailed data gathering on plant and disperser species traits, enhancing the dataset’s depth and reliability
- Collaborated with international experts and participated in global initiatives, such as the installation of artificial fruits on islands and a research stay at the Charles Darwin Foundation (Galápagos Islands).
Achievements of WP1:
- Completed a global dataset that significantly contributes to understanding seed-dispersal networks worldwide. This dataset was sourced from open-access databases, public repositories and from already published scientific articles. Preliminary results from this dataset have identified key patterns in fruit consumption and disperser behaviors on islands, such as higher fruit consumption in smaller and more isolated islands.
- Published findings on the impact of invasive species on trait diversity in avian frugivores and fleshy-fruited plants. This research revealed how introduced species affect functional composition and trait diversity, especially in communities with low native functional diversity. It further showed global biotic homogenization across networks worldwide.
- Outcomes: (1) Scientific publication; (2) Dissemination in international conferences and outreach activities such as the European Research's night.
Activities of WP2:
- Utilized species distribution modeling techniques to estimate the climatic niches of plant and animal species and evaluate the impact of climate change on these niches.
- Engaged in a secondment at CBER-University College London (UCL) to gain expertise in ecological niche modeling, collaborating closely international researchers experts in this topic.
- Developed a novel framework incorporating climatic niche diversity to assess how biotic interactions influence species vulnerability to climate change.
Achievements of WP2:
- Advanced understanding of how the loss of interaction partners affects plant vulnerability to climate change, highlighting the importance of biotic interactions in assessing ecological risks.
- Created a new analytical framework that extends the concept of “climatic niche diversity,” offering fresh insights into how ecosystems might respond to ongoing climate changes.
- Outcomes: (1) pending scientific publication; (2) dissemination in international conferences and outreach activities such as International Insect day and presentation and scientific seminars.
Activities of W3:
- Conducted analyses on a subset of 64 seed-dispersal networks, focusing on how global warming could impact long-distance seed dispersal (LDD).
- Used simulation models to study the effects of species extinctions and changes in network structure on LDD, with a particular focus on network modularity.
- Explored multidisciplinary approaches by collaborating with physicists to examine function-function networks and their nested patterns.
Achievements of WP3:
- Identified significant declines in community-wide LDD due to warming and demonstrated that changes in functional traits are a more critical predictor of LDD than species richness.
- Found that modular network structures can buffer the functional impacts of species extinctions, providing new insights into the resilience of seed-dispersal functions.
- Developed and validated a new framework for identifying keystone functions within ecological networks, with results accepted for publication. I gained expertise in multilayer networks and complex simulations.
- Engaged in research visits at other multidisciplinary research centers such as IFISC and BC3.
- Outcomes: (1) development of innovative framework for assessing keystone species and functions; (2) dissemination via scientific publications (pending and published), and (3) dissemination in international conferences and outreach activities such as global initiatives like Pint of Science 2024.
Activities of WP1:
- Compiled an extensive global dataset of approximately 225 seed-dispersal networks, including both continental and island systems. This dataset encompasses over 3,500 plant species and their interactions with various seed dispersers.
- Conducted detailed data gathering on plant and disperser species traits, enhancing the dataset’s depth and reliability
- Collaborated with international experts and participated in global initiatives, such as the installation of artificial fruits on islands and a research stay at the Charles Darwin Foundation (Galápagos Islands).
Achievements of WP1:
- Completed a global dataset that significantly contributes to understanding seed-dispersal networks worldwide. This dataset was sourced from open-access databases, public repositories and from already published scientific articles. Preliminary results from this dataset have identified key patterns in fruit consumption and disperser behaviors on islands, such as higher fruit consumption in smaller and more isolated islands.
- Published findings on the impact of invasive species on trait diversity in avian frugivores and fleshy-fruited plants. This research revealed how introduced species affect functional composition and trait diversity, especially in communities with low native functional diversity. It further showed global biotic homogenization across networks worldwide.
- Outcomes: (1) Scientific publication; (2) Dissemination in international conferences and outreach activities such as the European Research's night.
Activities of WP2:
- Utilized species distribution modeling techniques to estimate the climatic niches of plant and animal species and evaluate the impact of climate change on these niches.
- Engaged in a secondment at CBER-University College London (UCL) to gain expertise in ecological niche modeling, collaborating closely international researchers experts in this topic.
- Developed a novel framework incorporating climatic niche diversity to assess how biotic interactions influence species vulnerability to climate change.
Achievements of WP2:
- Advanced understanding of how the loss of interaction partners affects plant vulnerability to climate change, highlighting the importance of biotic interactions in assessing ecological risks.
- Created a new analytical framework that extends the concept of “climatic niche diversity,” offering fresh insights into how ecosystems might respond to ongoing climate changes.
- Outcomes: (1) pending scientific publication; (2) dissemination in international conferences and outreach activities such as International Insect day and presentation and scientific seminars.
Activities of W3:
- Conducted analyses on a subset of 64 seed-dispersal networks, focusing on how global warming could impact long-distance seed dispersal (LDD).
- Used simulation models to study the effects of species extinctions and changes in network structure on LDD, with a particular focus on network modularity.
- Explored multidisciplinary approaches by collaborating with physicists to examine function-function networks and their nested patterns.
Achievements of WP3:
- Identified significant declines in community-wide LDD due to warming and demonstrated that changes in functional traits are a more critical predictor of LDD than species richness.
- Found that modular network structures can buffer the functional impacts of species extinctions, providing new insights into the resilience of seed-dispersal functions.
- Developed and validated a new framework for identifying keystone functions within ecological networks, with results accepted for publication. I gained expertise in multilayer networks and complex simulations.
- Engaged in research visits at other multidisciplinary research centers such as IFISC and BC3.
- Outcomes: (1) development of innovative framework for assessing keystone species and functions; (2) dissemination via scientific publications (pending and published), and (3) dissemination in international conferences and outreach activities such as global initiatives like Pint of Science 2024.
The ECORISC project has significantly advanced the current state of knowledge in the study of seed-dispersal networks, global change impacts, and ecological interactions. For example, the development of a new framework incorporating climatic niche diversity to assess plant vulnerability represents a significant methodological advancement. This approach improves upon traditional models by integrating the effects of biotic interactions on species' climatic niches. In addition, our research on the effects of climate change on long-distance seed dispersal (LDD) has revealed that declines in LDD are more closely associated with changes in functional traits rather than species richness. The development and validation a framework for identifying not only keystone species but functions within ecological networks, extends the understanding of network dynamics and highlights critical functions that support ecosystem stability.
To maximize the impact of our findings and ensure their effective application, it would be important to continue the exploration into the effects of climate change on different types of ecological networks (e.g seed predation, pollination) and the development of additional case studies across diverse ecosystems (including more island systems).
To maximize the impact of our findings and ensure their effective application, it would be important to continue the exploration into the effects of climate change on different types of ecological networks (e.g seed predation, pollination) and the development of additional case studies across diverse ecosystems (including more island systems).