[Comparison of two plant-bird mutualistic systems in Asian tropical rainforests]

Abstract: To deeply understand how the morphological features of plants affect the visiting of pollen- and seed dispersal birds is beneficial to elucidate the ecological and evolutionary consequences of plant-bird interactions. In this paper, a comparative study was conducted on the avian pollen- and seed dispersal networks across four tropical rainforest habitats having experienced different levels of anthropological disturbance in Southwest China. It was observed that the inter-active network of plant-frugivorous bird was highly asymmetrical, while that of plant-seed dispersal bird was not asymmetrical. The differences between the two networks mainly manifested in the bird abundance, bird movable capability, and plant features attracting bird visiting. The understanding of these differences allowed us to reveal the mutualistic relationship between plant and bird.