Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32866143›Full record

ArticlePLoS biology2020

Estimating the risk of species interaction loss in mutualistic communities.

Benno I Simmons, Hannah S Wauchope, Tatsuya Amano, Lynn V Dicks, William J Sutherland, Vasilis Dakos

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in PLoS biology, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae ΔRIB1 and ΔRIB4 mutants, riboflavin auxotrophy is reverted by Wolbachia (wStr) infection.International microbiology : the official journal of the Spanish Society for Microbiology · 2026
    Article
  2. Article
  3. Nonnative tree invaders lead to declines in native tree species richness.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025
    Article
  4. Article
  5. Rapid monitoring of ecological persistence.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2023
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Benno I SimmonsConservation Science Group, Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom.ORCID 0000-0002-2751-9430
Hannah S WauchopeConservation Science Group, Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom.ORCID 0000-0001-5370-4616
Tatsuya AmanoConservation Science Group, Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom.ORCID 0000-0001-6576-3410
Lynn V DicksSchool of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, United Kingdom.
William J SutherlandConservation Science Group, Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom.ORCID 0000-0002-6498-0437
Vasilis DakosInstitut des Sciences de l'Evolution (ISEM), CNRS, Univ Montpellier, EPHE, IRD, Montpellier, France.ORCID 0000-0001-8862-718X

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Interactions between species generate the functions on which ecosystems and humans depend. However, we lack an understanding of the risk that interaction loss poses to ecological communities. Here, we quantify the risk of interaction loss for 4,330 species interactions from 41 empirical pollination and seed dispersal networks across 6 continents. We estimate risk as a function of interaction vulnerability to extinction (likelihood of loss) and contribution to network feasibility, a measure of how much an interaction helps a community tolerate environmental perturbations. Remarkably, we find that more vulnerable interactions have higher contributions to network feasibility. Furthermore, interactions tend to have more similar vulnerability and contribution to feasibility across networks than expected by chance, suggesting that vulnerability and feasibility contribution may be intrinsic properties of interactions, rather than only a function of ecological context. These results may provide a starting point for prioritising interactions for conservation in species interaction networks in the future.

Indexed as

BiotaSymbiosisAnimalsFeasibility StudiesPlantsRiskSpecies Specificity

Identifiers

PMID32866143
PMCPMC7485972

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.