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Chinese Journal of Ecology ›› 2025, Vol. 44 ›› Issue (10): 3220-3226.doi: 10.13292/j.1000-4890.202510.008

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Structure and characteristics of plant-frugivore bird mutualistic network in urban green space.

WEI Lijuan1, YA Xinyi2, ZHOU Can2, HUANG Yongping1, WANG Guohai2*   

  1. (1College of Mathematics and Computer Science, Guangxi Minzu Normal University, Chongzuo 532200, Guangxi, China; 2College of Agriculture and Biology, Guangxi Minzu Normal University, Chongzuo 532200, Guangxi, China).
  • Online:2025-10-10 Published:2026-04-01

Abstract:

Focal animal scanning method was used to collect the birds’ feeding behavior on fruit plants in Chongzuo Garden Expo Park from April 2022 to March 2023. The plantfrugivore bird mutualistic relationships were analyzed to examine the utilization of fruit plants by birds and the association between species traits and their network roles. The results showed that a total of 2724 feeding behavior data were collected throughout the year between 12 bird species (2 orders, 8 families) and 15 plant species (11 orders, 12 families). On average, each bird species fed on the fruits from 8.58±1.22 plant species, and each plant species attracted 6.80±0.56 bird species to eat its fruits. The observed network showed lower connectivity (C=0.57), diversity (H2=3.52), evenness (E2=0.68), and weighted nestedness (wNODF=52.01), but higher specialization (H′=0.12) and modularity (Q=0.10) than random networks. Three bird species contributed most to network stability: Pycnonotus jocosus (CN=2.07), Zosterops japonicus (CN=1.39) and Pycnonotus xanthorrhous (CN=0.90). The most important plant species were Phoenix roebelenii (CN=2.12), Lantana camara (CN=1.65), and Heteropanax fragrans (CN=1.06). Among the bird morphological traits (body weight, wing length, and bill lengths) and plant traits (weight, diameter, and color), only bird body weight, wing length, and bill lengths significantly affected species-level specialization (d), with higher specialization of larger-bodied birds. The results suggested that birds and fruiting plants in urban green spaces can form a mutualistic network, but the structure of such mutualistic network is relatively simple. The network analysis could offer an important monitoring tool for detecting crucial ecosystem functions of bird-plant associations.


Key words: mutualistic network, fruiting plant, frugivore bird, urban green space