Data from: Glacier retreat decreases mutualistic network robustness over spacetime

Glaciers are retreating worldwide at an ever-increasing rate, exposing new
ice-free areas to ecological succession. This process leads to changes in
biodiversity and potentially to novel species interactions. However, we
still have a limited understanding of how glacier retreat influences
species interaction networks, particularly the structure and robustness of
mutualistic networks. After reconstructing plant-pollinator networks along
a 140-year chronosequence on a glacier foreland, we address the effects of
glacier retreat on network structure and robustness. Our results show that
the prevalence of different network motifs changes over spacetime, leading
to a decrease in network robustness. With glacier retreat, mutualistic
networks shift from highly connected with diverse specialist interactions
to loosely connected with few generalist interactions. Furthermore,
despite the turnover of plant species, we find that species'
structural roles remain constant over spacetime while depending on species
identity. Our findings suggest that glacier retreat reshuffles mutualistic
networks with motifs posing low robustness, leading to increased
fragility. Understanding the assembly and breaking down of species
interaction networks provides novel insights into the development and
stability of novel, post-glacial ecological systems facing glacier
extinction.