A phylogenetic approach is used to show that past evolutionary history partly explains network patterns that link plants and their pollinators and seed dispersers. Species close in the phylogeny tend to play similar roles in the network. As a result, co-extinction cascades following the extinction of a species affect taxonomically related species, resulting in a non-random pruning of the evolutionary tree.
- Enrico L. Rezende
- Jessica E. Lavabre
- Jordi Bascompte