Data from: Cophylogenetic signal is detectable in pollination interactions across ecological scales

That evolutionary history can influence the way that species interact is a basic tenet of evolutionary ecology. However, when the role of evolution in determining ecological interactions is investigated, focus typically centers on just one side of the interaction. A cophylogenetic signal, the congruence of evolutionary history across both sides of an ecological interaction, extends these previous explorations and provides a more complete picture of how evolutionary patterns influence the way species interact. To date, cophylogenetic signal has most typically been studied in interactions that occur between fine taxonomic clades that show high intimacy. In this study, we took an alternative approach and made an exhaustive assessment of cophylogeny in pollination interactions. To do so, we assessed the strength of cophylogenetic signal at four distinct scales of pollination interaction: (1) across plant–pollinator associations globally, (2) in local pollination communities, (3) within the modular structure of those communities, and (4) in individual modules. We did so using a globally distributed dataset comprised of 54 pollination networks, over 4000 species, and over 12,000 interactions. Within these data, we detected cophylogenetic signal at all four scales. Cophylogenetic signal was found at the level of plant–pollinator interactions on a global scale and in the majority of pollination communities. At the scale defined by the modular structure within those communities, however, we observed a much weaker cophylogenetic signal. Cophylogenetic signal was detectable in a significant proportion of individual modules and most typically when within-module phylogenetic diversity was low. In sum, the detection of cophylogenetic signal in pollination interactions across scales provides a new dimension to the story of how past evolution shapes extant pollinator–angiosperm interactions.

演化历史可影响物种间的相互作用模式，是演化生态学的核心基本原则之一。然而，在探究演化对生态相互作用的调控作用时，过往研究通常仅聚焦于相互作用的其中一方。协同系统发育信号（cophylogenetic signal）指生态相互作用双方的演化历史一致性，它拓展了此前的研究范畴，能够更全面地揭示演化模式如何塑造物种间的相互作用方式。迄今为止，协同系统发育信号的研究多集中于亲缘关系紧密的精细分类支系之间的相互作用。本研究采用了一种别样的研究思路，对传粉相互作用中的协同系统发育（cophylogeny）进行了全面评估。为此，我们在四个不同尺度的传粉相互作用中评估了协同系统发育信号的强度：(1) 全球范围内的植物-传粉者互作关联；(2) 局域传粉群落；(3) 这些群落的模块化结构内部；(4) 单个功能模块。本次研究所用的数据集覆盖全球范围，包含54个传粉网络、逾4000个物种以及超过12000条互作记录。基于这些数据，我们在全部四个尺度中均检测到了协同系统发育信号。全球尺度下的植物-传粉者互作以及大多数局域传粉群落中均存在协同系统发育信号。但在这些群落的模块化结构尺度下，我们观测到的协同系统发育信号强度则显著减弱。相当比例的单个功能模块中可检测到协同系统发育信号，且这类信号多出现于模块内部系统发育多样性较低的情况。综上，在不同尺度的传粉相互作用中检测到协同系统发育信号，为解析过往演化如何塑造现存传粉者-被子植物互作关系提供了全新的研究维度。