RT journal article
T1 Tripartite networks show that keystone species can multitask
A1 Timóteo, Sérgio
A1 Albrecht, Jörg
A1 Rumeu Ruiz, Beatriz
A1 Norte, Ana C.
A1 Traveset, Anna
A1 Frost, Carol M.
A1 Marchante, Elizabete
A1 López-Núñez, Francisco A.
A1 Peralta, Guadalupe
A1 Memmott, Jane
A1 Olesen, Jens M.
A1 Costa, José M.
A1 da Silva, Luís P.
A1 Carvalheiro, Luísa G.
A1 Correia, Marta
A1 Staab, Michael
A1 Blüthgen, Nico
A1 Farwig, Nina
A1 Hervías-Parejo, Sandra
A1 Mironov, Sergei
A1 Rodríguez-Echeverría, Susana
A1 Heleno, Ruben
A2 Biología
K1 Eltonian niche
K1 functional niche space
K1 keystone species
K1 keystoneness
K1 meta-analysis
K1 multitrophic interactions
K1 species importance
K1 tripartite networks
K1 tri-trophic networks
AB Keystone species are disproportionately important for ecosystem functioning. While all species engage in multiple interaction types with other species, keystone species importance is often defined based on a single dimension of their Eltonian niche, that is, one type of interaction (e.g. keystone predator). It remains unclear whether the importance of keystone species is unidimensional or if it extends across interaction types. We conducted a meta-analysis of tripartite interaction networks examining whether species importance in one dimension of their niche is mirrored in other niche dimensions, and whether this is associated with interaction outcome, intimacy or species richness. We show that keystone species importance is positively associated across multiple ecological niche dimensions, independently of abundance, and find no evidence that multidimensionality of keystone species is influenced by the explanatory variables. We propose that the role of keystone species extends across multiple ecological niche dimensions, with important implications for ecosystem resilience and conservation. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.
PB WILEY
SN 1365-2435
YR 2023
FD 2023
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10498/29812
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10498/29812
LA eng
DS Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Cádiz
RD 14-nov-2026