Consistency in mutualism relies on local, rather than wider community biodiversity.

ABSTRACT: Mutualistic interactions play a major role in shaping the Earth's biodiversity, yet the consistent drivers governing these beneficial interactions are unknown. Using a long-term (8 year, including > 256 h behavioural observations) dataset of the interaction patterns of a service-resource mutualism (the cleaner-client interaction), we identified consistent and dynamic predictors of mutualistic outcomes. We showed that cleaning was consistently more frequent when the presence of third-party species and client partner abundance locally increased (creating choice options), whilst partner identity regulated client behaviours. Eight of our 12 predictors of cleaner and client behaviour played a dynamic role in predicting both the quality (duration) and quantity (frequency) of interactions, and we

SUBMITTER: Dunkley K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7718221 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature