Biology subjects

Gonzalez Gonzalez, C.

Publications and source records attributed to Gonzalez Gonzalez, C..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2021

High-order interactions maintain or enhance structural robustness of a coffee agroecosystem network

The capacity of highly diverse systems to prevail has proven difficult to explain. In addition to methodological issues, the inherent complexity of ecosystems and issues like multicausality, non-linearity and context-specificity make it hard to establish general and unidirectional explanations. Nevertheless, in recent years, high order interactions have been increasingly discussed as a mechanism that benefits the functioning of highly diverse ecosystems and may add to the mechanisms that explain their persistence. Until now, this idea has been explored by means of hypothetical simulated networks. Here, we test this idea using an updated and empirically documented network for a coffee agroecosystem. We identify potentially key nodes and measure network robustness in the face of node removal with and without incorporation of high order interactions. We find that the systems robustness is either increased or unaffected by the addition of high order interactions, in contrast with randomized counterparts with similar structural characteristics. We also propose a method for representing networks with high order interactions as ordinary graphs and a method for measuring their robustness. HighlightsO_LIThe robustness of a coffee-associated ecological network is either increased or unaffected by the incorporation of high order interactions. C_LIO_LIA method is proposed for representing high order interactions in ordinary networks. C_LIO_LIA method is proposed to measure the robustness of networks with high order interactions. C_LIO_LIHigh order interactions may promote the persistence of diverse ecosystems. C_LI

ecology↗

bioRxiv2020

Linking coleopteran diversity with agricultural management of maize agroecosystems in Oaxaca, Mexico

Biodiversity is known to be influenced by agricultural practices in many ways. However, it is necessary to understand how this relation takes place in particular agroecosystems, sociocultural contexts and for specific biological groups. Also, in order to systematically study and track how biodiversity responds or changes with agricultural practices, it is necessary to find groups that can be used as practical indicators. We conduct a study of beetle (Coleoptera) diversity in maize-based agricultural plots with heterogeneous management practices in the Central Valleys of Oaxaca, Mexico. First, we use a mixture of local knowledge and multivariate statistics to group the plots into two broad and contrasting management categories (traditional vs. industrialized). Then, we present an analysis of Coleopteran diversity for each category, showing higher levels across different diversity indexes for the traditional plots. Also, our results let us postulate the Curculionidae family as an indicator of both management type and overall Coleopteran diversity in the agricultural lands of the study site. We discuss our results in terms of the agricultural matrix quality and its role in joint productive and biodiversity conservation strategies.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2018

Combined effect of matrix quality and spatial heterogeneity on biodiversity decline

The land-sparing/land-sharing debate remains an oversimplified framework to evaluate landscape management strategies that aim to reconcile food production and biodiversity conservation. Still, biodiversity-yield curves, on which the framework has relied, provide valuable qualitative information on biodiversitys sensitivity to agricultural practices, and much research has studied this relationship. But the potential effect of landscape configuration on biodiversitys response to intensification has rarely been considered; besides, studies have often taken yield as an indicator of agricultural management and have generalized conclusions from studying particular taxonomic groups. In this work we adapt a metacommunity model to analyze factors that shape biodiversitys response to agricultural intensification while addressing some of the simplifications of the land-sparing/land-sharing dichotomy. In particular, we study species richness decline in landscapes encompassing a combined gradient in matrix quality and configurational heterogeneity of habitat patches, and considering community dynamics. We found that species richness along an intensification gradient shifts from following a robust response to presenting an abrupt decline, as landscape heterogeneity increases, as stricter survival thresholds are applied to species or as habitat area is reduced. Our work highlights the interdependent effects of heterogeneity, habitat availability and matrix quality on biodiversity and contributes to a nuanced understanding of ecological and landscape factors that enable a robust response of biodiversity in the face of spatiotemporal perturbations.

ecology↗