Niche-based processes and neutrality influence patterns of indirect interactions in mutualistic networks Benno I. Simmons 1,2* , Andrew P. Beckerman 1 , Katrine Hansen 3 , Pietro K. Maruyama 4 , Jeferson Vizentin-Bugoni 5 and Bo Dalsgaard 3 1 Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, S10 2TN, UK 2 Centre for Ecology and Conservation, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Cornwall Campus, Penryn, UK 3 Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate, GLOBE Institute, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, 2100 Copenhagen Ø, Denmark 4 Centro de Síntese Ecológica e Conservação, Departamento de Genética, Ecologia e Evolução, ICB, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais – MG, Brazil 5 Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1102 S. Goodwin Ave, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA * Corresponding author: Benno I. Simmons. Centre for Ecology and Conservation, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Cornwall Campus, Penryn, UK. Email: benno.simmons@gmail.com . CC-BY 4.0 International license made available under a (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is The copyright holder for this preprint this version posted May 2, 2020. ; https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.04.30.070391 doi: bioRxiv preprint