Data from: Local and regional specialization in plant–pollinator networks

Specialization of species is often studied in ecology but its
quantification and meaning is disputed. More recently, ecological network
analysis has been widely used as a tool to quantify specialization, but
here its true meaning is also debated. However, irrespective of the tool
used, the geographic scale at which specialization is measured remains
central. Consequently, we use data sets of plant–pollinator networks from
Brazil and the Canary Islands to explore specialization at local and
regional scales. We ask how local specialization of a species is related
to its regional specialization, and whether or not species tend to
interact with a non-random set of partners in local communities. Local and
regional specialization were strongly correlated around the 1:1 line,
indicating that species conserve their specialization levels across
spatial scales. Furthermore, most plants and pollinators also showed link
conservatism repeatedly across local communities, and thus seem to be
constrained in their fundamental niche. However, some species are more
constrained than others, indicating true specialists. We argue that
several geographically separated populations should be evaluated in order
to provide a robust evaluation of species specialization.