Tropical forests are undergoing a biodiversity crisis including defaunation processes. Structure and function of biotic communities in disturbed ecosystems can be assessed with network analyses of interspecific interactions. In a disturbed tropical forest we studied the network of interactions between fruiting plants and three groups of frugivorous animals, determining the structure, modular roles of species and the robustness of the network under simulated extinction scenarios based on species strength (SS) (relevance), species role (SR) (connectivity) and body size (vulnerability). We recorded 5,347 interactions between 63 frugivore and 60 plant species. The network had a modular structure with four modules: (1) plants with exposed fruits consumed by bats; (2) plants with juicy fruits consumed by larger birds; (3) plants with dry high-lipid-content fruits consumed by migratory birds; and (4) generalist plants consumed by several frugivores (three guilds). Robustness of the network was lower when species with high SS or important connectivity roles (i.e., module hubs) were lost first; when larger animals were lost first the network was more robust than in the other scenarios. Our results suggest that modularity may protect disturbed communities against species loss. We provide bases for developing ecologically-sound measures for the conservation of ecological interactions in anthropogenic landscapes.

热带森林正遭受包括破坏过程在内的生物多样性危机。可以通过种间相互作用的网络分析来评估受干扰生态系统中生物群落的结构和功能。在一个受干扰的热带森林中，我们研究了果树植物与三类食肉动物之间的相互作用网络，在基于物种强度（SS）（相关性）的模拟灭绝场景下，确定了物种的结构，模块作用和网络的健壮性，物种角色（SR）（连通性）和体型（脆弱性）。我们记录了63种节食动物和60种植物之间的5,347种相互作用。该网络具有由四个模块组成的模块化结构：（1）蝙蝠吃掉裸露果实的植物；（2）大型鸟类食用多汁水果的植物；（3）候鸟食用具有高脂含量的干果的植物；（4）被几种节食动物（三个行会）消耗的通才植物。当具有高SS或重要连接角色（即模块集线器）的物种首先丢失时，网络的健壮性就会降低；当较大的动物首先丢失时，网络比其他情况下更强大。我们的结果表明，模块化可以保护受干扰的社区免受物种损失。我们为开发生态合理的措施提供依据，以保护人为景观中的生态相互作用。当较大的动物首先丢失时，网络比其他情况下更强大。我们的结果表明，模块化可以保护受干扰的社区免受物种损失。我们为开发生态合理的措施提供依据，以保护人为景观中的生态相互作用。当较大的动物首先丢失时，网络比其他情况下更强大。我们的结果表明，模块化可以保护受干扰的社区免受物种损失。我们为开发生态合理的措施提供依据，以保护人为景观中的生态相互作用。