8–9 Sept 2026
Europe/Berlin timezone

Urbanization reorganizes plant–pollinator networks across space, time and socio-ecological gradients

Not scheduled
20m
Talk Complexity

Speaker

Huan Liang (German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv))

Description

Urbanization reshapes biodiversity, yet how it interacts with spatiotemporal gradients to reorganize species interactions – and how these interactions respond to multiple socio-ecological drivers – remains poorly understood. Here we analyzed plant–pollinator interaction networks across 22 urban green spaces sampled year-round along an urbanization gradient in an underrepresented Asian megacity. Seasonality emerged as the dominant driver of interaction turnover, while urbanization amplified temporal interaction β-diversity, primarily through increased seasonal turnover of plant species. This pattern was largely driven by non-native plants, which also disproportionately occupied key structural positions as network and module hubs. Among all drivers, urbanization intensity and local management exerted the strongest indirect effects on network structure by altering plant and pollinator diversity, with downstream consequences for interaction specialization and network robustness. A legacy effect on biodiversity was detected, whereas no luxury effect was evident, highlighting context dependence in links between urban form, socioeconomic context, and biodiversity. Together, our findings underscore the importance of multi-season sampling for understanding urban pollination networks and demonstrate that green space management can play a central role in conserving both biodiversity and the structure of ecological interactions in cities.

Status Group Postdoctoral Researcher
FOR TALKS: Poster Presentation Option Yes, I’m willing to present as a poster.

Author

Huan Liang (German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv))

Co-authors

Presentation materials

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