Evolutionary history and precipitation seasonality shape niche overlap in Neotropical bat-plant pollination networks

Species interactions are one dimension of the niche, and niche overlap
arises when two species share an interaction partner. In pollination
systems, environmental and biotic factors impact the niche overlap. Here
we explored the effects of climate seasonality, plant and bat richness,
morphological traits, and phylogenetic distance in shaping the niche
overlap of Neotropical bat-plant pollination networks. For that, we used a
dataset of 22 bat-plant pollination networks in the Neotropical region. We
measured niche overlap in bats and plants with the Morisita-Horn index,
ĈH, and then, we used a SAR model to test the relationships between niche
overlap and the abiotic and biotic factors. We found a lower niche overlap
among bats in communities composed of phylogenetically distant bat
species. Moreover, plant and bat overlap were lower in regions with higher
precipitation seasonality. Our results indicate that climate seasonality
and bat evolutionary history drive niche overlap in Neotropical bat-plant
pollination interactions. These findings suggest that a higher
precipitation seasonality may promote the emergence of temporal modules
reducing niche overlap, probably as a consequence of seasonal species
phenologies.  Furthermore, the method used to record the
interactions impacts the degree of niche overlap. Interactions recorded
with pollen samples tend to have higher niche overlap than direct
observations. The uncoupled responses of morphological traits and
phylogenetic distances in bat niche overlap suggest an effect of
historical processes independently of the morphological traits. Our study
reinforced the importance of evolutionary history and ecological processes
in imprinting patterns of interaction niche overlap.