PARENT SESSION
Contributed Oral Session 129: Biodiversity: Disturbance; Landscapes; Heterogeneity
Thursday, August 11, 1:30 PM - 5:00 PM, Meeting Room 513 E, Level 5, Palais des congrès de Montréal
Plant pollinator webs and indirect interactions in restored and unrestored habitat on Mauritius.
Müller, Christine*,1, Kaiser, Christopher, Hansen, Dennis, 1 Institute of Ebvironmental Sciences, Zürich, Switzerland
ABSTRACT- Most of the natural communities of Mauritius have been highly degraded, first by exploitation and habitat use for agricultural crop, and more recently by invasive species. Here we ask whether by weeding invasive plants, the functional diversity of pollinators is restored naturally. We collected interaction webs of plants and pollinators in restored and unrestored high altitude heathland habitat and connect them with seed set. Both webs show high generalism among pollinators but the reproductive success of some endemic plant species is jeopardized in unrestored habitat. Webs can be used to deduct predictions on indirect interactions among plants via their pollinators. We demonstrate experimentally that such indirect interactions could be relevant for conservation efforts.
Key words: pollination, functional diversity, indirect interaction, invasion