Recent studies suggest that the assembly of trophic interaction networks is the result of both niche (deterministic and selective) and neutral (stochastic) processes, but we know little about their relative importance. Succession following disturbance offers a good opportunity to address this question. Studies of single-trophic guilds suggest that, shortly after a disturbance, such as a fire, neutral assembly processes (e.g. colonisation events) dominate; whereas, niche processes (selection) become more and more important as succession proceeds. Building on these observations, we predict similar changes in interaction networks during succession, with a shift from stochastic toward selective interactions. To test this, we studied succession of plant–herbivorous insect networks in South Africa after a fire. We sampled a total of 385 herbivorous arthropod species and 92 plant species. For different successional stages and spatial grain sizes, we used network descriptors to estimate plant–herbivore specificity and partner fidelity of plant and herbivore species across networks (i.e. localities). We compared the observed network descriptors to neutral models, and then differentiated selective species (associated with similar partner species in different networks) from neutral species (associated at random with their partners). Our results suggest that specialisation, partner fidelity and the proportion of selective species of plants and herbivores increased with succession, which is consistent with the hypothesis that niche-based processes prevail over neutral processes as succession proceeds. However, in all the successional stages, the majority of species were neutral species, which pinpoints the importance of opportunistic interactions in the assembly of trophic networks.

最近的研究表明，营养相互作用网络的组装是利基（确定性和选择性）过程和中性（随机）过程的结果，但我们对其相对重要性知之甚少。扰动后的继承为解决这个问题提供了一个很好的机会。对单养行会的研究表明，在大火发生后不久，中立的装配过程（例如，殖民化事件）占主导地位。然而，随着继承的进行，利基过程（选择）变得越来越重要。基于这些观察，我们预测了在交互过程中交互网络中的类似变化，将从随机交互转变为选择性交互。为了验证这一点，我们研究了大火后南非植物-食性昆虫网络的继承情况。我们共采样了385种草食节肢动物和92种植物。对于不同的演替阶段和空间粒度，我们使用网络描述符来估计整个网络（即本地）的植物和草食动物物种的植物-草食动物特异性和伙伴保真度。我们将观察到的网络描述符与中性模型进行了比较，然后将选择性物种（与不同网络中的相似伙伴物种相关联）与中性物种（与它们的伙伴随机相关联）区分开来。我们的结果表明，专业化，伙伴保真度以及植物和草食动物的选择性物种的比例随演替而增加，这与以下假设相一致：随着演替的进行，基于生态位的过程优先于中性过程。但是，在所有后续阶段，