Data from: Corridors restore animal-mediated pollination in fragmented tropical forest landscapes

Tropical biodiversity and associated ecosystem functions have become heavily eroded through habitat loss. Animal-mediated pollination is required in >94% of higher tropical plant species and 75% of the world´s leading food crops, but it remains unclear if corridors avert deforestation-driven pollination breakdown in fragmented tropical landscapes. Here, we used manipulative resource experiments and field observations to show that corridors functionally connect neotropical forest fragments for forest-associated hummingbirds and increase pollen transfer. Further, corridors boosted forest-associated pollinator availability in fragments by 14.3 times compared to unconnected equivalents, increasing overall pollination success. Plants in patches without corridors showed pollination rates equal to bagged control flowers, indicating pollination failure in isolated fragments. This indicates, for the first time, that corridors benefit tropical forest ecosystems beyond boosting local species richness, by functionally connecting mutualistic network partners. We conclude that small-scale adjustments to landscape configuration safeguard native pollinators and associated pollination services in tropical forest landscapes.

热带生物多样性及其相关联的生态系统功能已因栖息地丧失而遭受严重侵蚀。全球超过94%的高等热带植物物种以及75%的世界主要粮食作物依赖动物传粉，但目前仍不清楚生态廊道能否在碎片化的热带景观中抵御由森林砍伐引发的传粉功能崩溃。本研究通过控制性资源实验与野外观测证实，生态廊道可在功能上为依附森林的蜂鸟连通新热带森林片段，并提升花粉传播效率。进一步研究发现，相较于未连通的森林片段，廊道使片段内依附森林的传粉者种群丰度提升14.3倍，整体传粉成功率随之提高。未设置廊道的斑块中植物的传粉率与套袋对照花持平，表明孤立森林片段已出现传粉失效。这一结果首次证实，生态廊道可通过功能连通互利共生网络的参与者，为热带森林生态系统带来超出提升本地物种丰富度之外的益处。我们由此得出结论：对景观配置进行小规模调整，即可保护热带森林景观中的本土传粉者及其相关联的传粉服务。