Habitat loss reshuffles ecological and evolutionary interactions in a seed dispersal network

In tropical forests, habitat loss reshapes species composition, favoring generalists and recently emerged lineages while specialists and older evolutionary lineages are lost. However, how changes in species ecological attributes and evolutionary history affect ecological processes is poorly explored. Using the well‐known frugivory system of Euterpe edulis, an emblematic palm species of the Atlantic Forest, and its avian frugivores, we investigated how habitat loss influenced both ecological and evolutionary history across 150 forest remnants within the palm's potential distribution. We inferred potential interactions using a co‐occurrence approach based on the overlap between palm suitability and bird occurrences. We hypothesized that landscape‐scale forest loss negatively affects the ecological and evolutionary dimensions of the network, leading to declines in functional, phylogenetic and evolutionary distinctness of interactions. Consistent with this hypothesis and supported by validation using 21 field studies, we showed that forest loss reduces the diversity of birds that interact with Euterpe edulis , including those with distinct evolutionary histories. We showed that each 1% forest loss reduces 50 000 years of evolutionary distinct interactions, while phylogenetic and functional diversity also decline. Specifically, frugivores with large gape size and those that forage in mid‐high and canopy strata are negatively affected, whereas ground‐foraging species are positively affected. These shifts likely reduce the quality of seed dispersal and may compromise plant recruitment. Thus, habitat loss not only simplifies interaction networks but also erodes a key mutualism by selectively eliminating functionally and phylogenetically important partners of E. edulis .