Species role in the networks
The finding of the current study showed that lianas and trees were
predominantly specialists (i.e., peripherals), irrespective of edge
disturbance or edge effects, indicating possible robustness of species
roles to disturbance. A similar pattern was recorded in a moist
semi-deciduous forest in Ghana (Addo-Fordjour et al., 2021). The high
specialisation of the species in the networks shows that antagonism in
the networks might have resulted in the evolution of specialisation in
both liana and tree species (Maliet et al., 2020). The role of some of
the liana and tree species was consistent in the forest sites, whiles
other species roles changed from one site to another. This phenomenon
indicates that edge effects probably caused a switch in the role of some
of the species among the forest sites, while the role of other species
remained unchanged. The change from specialist to generalist and vice
versa, and from one form of generalist to another may be related to
changes in species abundance and distribution following edge disturbance
(Addo-Fordjour et al., 2021). Some of the species identified as
structural important species (i.e., connectors, module hubs, network
hubs) in our study were also reported as species that possessed
structural importance in a moist semi-deciduous forest in Ghana
(Addo-Fordjour & Afram, 2021). These plants which include two liana
species (G . simplicifolia , C . africanus ) and
three tree species (T . scleroxylon , N .papaverifera , C . mildbraedii ) may have unique
functional roles that support the functioning of the forests.