  The architecture of bipartite networks linking two classes of constituents is
affected by the interactions within each class. For the bipartite networks
representing the mutualistic relationship between pollinating animals and
plants, it has been known that their degree distributions are broad but often
deviate from power-law form, more significantly for plants than animals. Here
we consider a model for the evolution of the mutualistic networks and find that
their topology is strongly dependent on the asymmetry and non-linearity of the
preferential selection of mutualistic partners. Real-world mutualistic networks
analyzed in the framework of the model show that a new animal species
determines its partners not only by their attractiveness but also as a result
of the competition with pre-existing animals, which leads to the
stretched-exponential degree distributions of plant species.
