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"Temporal Changes of fruit-bird networks due to phenology: innovations of a multilayer approach". A frequently-used approach to explore seed dispersal is through complex network analysis, in which species are represented as nodes and interactions as edges. However, most seed-dispersal networks are analysed as connections with a single type of static edge, excluding any explicit consideration of their temporal change. This limits our understanding of temporal dynamics of seed dispersal in real ecosystems, given that the abundance of both frugivores and fruit crops varies over time. For birds and plants being able to interact, they need to have a matching phenology. In fact, phenological uncoupling is one of the most frequent reasons of the presence of forbidden links in ecological networks, i.e. links that remain unrecorded because of biological constraints (and not because of limited sampling effort). The emergent field of multilayer networks incorporates multiple layers of ecological complexity and allows a proper analysis of highly dynamic temporal systems, with differentiated intra-layer (a time span) and inter-layer connectivity (species persistence across time spans). In this talk, we present the theoretical background and main objectives of my recently started TEMPNET project, in which fruit phenology is linked to the temporal dynamics of seed-dispersal networks. We aim at 1)assessing how seasonal and long-term phenological shifts in the abundance of frugivore and plant resources will alter seed-dispersal networks; 2) determining the prevalence of phenological uncoupling and evaluating its ultimate consequences for biodiversity conservation. We will use as study system a Mediterranean scrubland community from SW Spain (Doñana National Park). This new conceptual approach allows exploring the evolutionary consequences of phenological mismatches among fruits and bird consumers, with higher probability of occurrence in a context of global change.

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