Data from: Hotspots of mutualistic networks

Incorporating interactions into a biogeographical framework may serve to
understand how such interactions and the services they provide are
distributed in space. We begin by simulating the spatiotemporal dynamics
of realistic mutualistic networks inhabiting spatial networks of habitat
patches. We proceed by comparing these predictions with the empirical
results of a set of pollination networks in isolated hills of the
Argentinian Pampas. We first find that one needs to sample up to five
times as much area to record interactions as would be needed to sample the
same proportion of species. Second, we find that peripheral patches have
fewer interactions and harbor less nested networks ---therefore
potentially less resilient communities--- compared to central patches. Our
results highlight the important role played by the structure of dispersal
routes on the spatial distribution of community patterns. This may help to
understand the formation of biodiversity hotspots.