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Sparse positive and negative weak interactions drive plant species performance in a diverse community
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  • Lisa Buche,
  • Lauren Shoemaker,
  • Peter Vesk,
  • Ignasi Bartomeus,
  • Lauren Hallett,
  • Christopher Weiss-Lehman,
  • Margaret Mayfield,
  • Oscar Godoy
Lisa Buche
The University of Melbourne School of BioSciences

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Lauren Shoemaker
University of Wyoming
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Peter Vesk
University of Melbourne
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Ignasi Bartomeus
Estación Biológica de Doñana
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Lauren Hallett
University of Oregon
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Christopher Weiss-Lehman
University of Wyoming
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Margaret Mayfield
The University of Melbourne School of BioSciences
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Oscar Godoy
Universidad de Cadiz Campus de Puerto Real
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Abstract

With many species interacting in nature, determining which describe community dynamics is nontrivial. By applying a new Bayesian-sparse modelling approach to an extensive field survey, we assessed the importance of interactions from con- and hetero-specific plants, pollinators, and insect herbivores on plant performance. We compared the inclusion of the interaction effects as aggregate "generic" terms versus specific terms. We found that a continuum of positive to negative interactions, containing mostly generic but a few strong specific interactions, was sufficient to describe variation in plant performance. While interactions with herbivores and conspecifics varied from weakly negative to weakly positive, heterospecific plants mainly promoted competition and pollinators facilitated plants. The consistency of these empirical findings over three years suggests that a broad resolution, including the generic effects of guilds and a few specific groups rather than all pairwise and high-order interactions, can accurately describe species variation in plant performance across natural communities.
29 Aug 2024Submitted to Ecology Letters
30 Aug 2024Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
30 Aug 2024Submission Checks Completed
30 Aug 2024Assigned to Editor
06 Sep 2024Reviewer(s) Assigned
10 Oct 2024Editorial Decision: Revise Major
13 Nov 20241st Revision Received
13 Nov 2024Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
13 Nov 2024Submission Checks Completed
13 Nov 2024Assigned to Editor
13 Nov 2024Reviewer(s) Assigned
16 Dec 2024Editorial Decision: Accept