From species lists to interactions: Network structure, not richness, guides seed dispersal management in human-modified islands

Seed dispersal by animals supports plant regeneration and ecosystem resilience, yet conservation success is still commonly evaluated using species richness rather than the organisation of ecological interactions. This is particularly problematic in human-modified ecosystems, where management interventions can increase diversity without restoring historical interaction structures or functional stability. We compared seed dispersal networks on two climatically and biogeographically similar oceanic islands in the Seychelles archipelago with contrasting management trajectories: one strictly protected and under historically oriented management, aimed at limiting introductions and maintaining historically informed community structure, and one anthropogenically diversified through long-term human occupation and species introductions. Using a multi-metric ecological network approach integrating modularity-based roles, centrality indices and motif analyses, we quantified how plants and disperser..., , # From species lists to interactions: network structure, not richness, guides seed dispersal management in human-modified islands Datasets accompanying the manuscript **\"From species lists to interactions: network structure, not richness, guides seed dispersal management in human-modified islands\"** ## Authors Alba Costa\ Manuel Nogales\ Anna Traveset\ Christopher N. Kaiser-Bunbury\ Anna Zora\ Gregory Berke\ Sandra Hervías-Parejo --- ## Dataset description ### `Quali_inter_Aride.csv` & `Quali_inter_Fregate.csv` Dataset of **plant–frugivore qualitative interactions** collected on two small granitic inner islands in the Seychelles: * **Aride Island** (-4.2121, 55.6658; 135 m a.s.l.; 72 ha) * **Frégate Island** (-4.5853, 55.9402; 125 m a.s.l.; 207 ha) Data are organised in two files: * `Quali_inter_Aride.csv` — interactions recorded on **Aride Island** * `Quali_inter_Fregate.csv` — interactions recorded on **Frégate Island** Interactions were recorded in **2019, 2021, 2023 and 2..., ,