Data from: Selective logging in tropical forests decreases the robustness of liana-tree interaction networks to the loss of host tree species

Selective logging is one of the major drivers of tropical forest
degradation, causing important shifts in species composition. Whether such
changes modify interactions between species and the networks in which they
are embedded remain fundamental questions to assess the ‘health’ and
ecosystem functionality of logged forests. We focus on interactions
between lianas and their tree hosts within primary and selectively logged
forests in the biodiversity hotspot of Malaysian Borneo. We found that
lianas were more abundant, had higher species richness and different
species compositions in logged than in primary forests. Logged forests
showed heavier liana loads disparately affecting slow-growth tree species,
which could exacerbate the loss of timber value and carbon storage already
associated to logging. Moreover, simulation scenarios of host tree local
species loss indicated that logging might decrease the robustness of
liana-tree interaction networks if heavily infested trees (i.e. the most
connected ones) are more likely to disappear. This effect is partially
mitigated in the short term by the colonization of host trees by a greater
diversity of liana species within logged forests, yet this might not
compensate for the loss of preferred tree hosts in the long term. As a
consequence, species interaction networks may show a lagged response to
disturbance, which may trigger sudden collapses in species richness and
ecosystem function in response to additional disturbances, representing a
new type of “extinction debt”.