nested (in plant-pollinator networks (q.v.))

The degree to which species (plants or pollinators) with few interaction links share a sub-set of the links of other species, rather than having a different set of links. In highly nested networks, groups of species that share more or less similar activities contain both generalist species (q.v.) (i. e., with many links) and specialist species (q.v.) (i. e., with few links, but shared with the generalists). In mutualistic networks, such as pollination, nestedness is often asymmetrical (q.v.), with specialists of one group (plants or pollinators) linked to the generalists of the partner group (pollinators or plants).