Figure 1.
Temporal variation in basic butterfly–nectar plant network characteristcs.
Numbers of butterfly species (A), plant species (P), links (I), and connectance (C) during 12 years of study.
Figure 2.
Variation in temporal persistence of species and links.
Frequency distributions of temporal persistence T (no yrs observed) for species (A) and links (B). Sporadic species and links have a T of 1–2(-5) years, i.e. observed <20% of the time, whereas stable species and links have a T of (9-)11–12 years, i.e. observed >80% of the time.
Figure 3.
Numbers and annual turnover rates of species and links.
Nested matrix between interacting butterfly species and their nectar plant species. The matrix is divided into quadrants, according to L>2 (generalists) or L≤2 links (specialists). (A) Overall average annual turnover rates for species and their links. Proportions of plant (green double arrow) and butterfly species turnover (red double arrow). Proportions of total link turnover attributed to rewiring (mauve circle) and species turnover (blue double arrow). (B) Proportions of generalist and specialist plant (green figures) and butterfly species (red figures) and their links in the 12-yr pooled matrix. The curved line is the nestedness isocline. (C) Average annual turnover rates for generalist and specialist plants (green double arrows) and butterfly species (red double arrows) and their links. (D) Proportions of total link turnover attributed to rewiring (mauve circles) and species turnover (blue double arrows).
Figure 4.
Relationship between temporal persistence of species and their linkage level.
Relationship between temporal persistence T (no yrs observed) of butterfly species (A) and plant species (B) and their mean annual linkage level L. Two non-overlapping regions with respect to T and L were distinguished: The blue frame areas are regions of specialists, varying a lot in their T, and the black ones are regions of stable species, varying a lot in their L.