Ecological opportunity leads to the emergence of an alternative behavioural phenotype in a tropical bird

Touchton, Janeene M.; Wikelski, Martin

doi:10.1111/1365-2656.12341

Cited by 8 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 54 publications

(115 reference statements)

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“…Moreover, changes in competitive interactions are not independent of species’ habitat requirements. In the absence of competitors, new behavioural phenotypes may emerge in some species (Touchton & Wikelski, ), potentially permitting them to exist in different habitats or conditions. The significance and complexities of species interactions make them important, but challenging, for predictive models.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Our inclusion of data on many species, rather than only pair-wise interactions, facilitated the detection of diffuse competition. (Touchton & Wikelski, 2015), potentially permitting them to exist in different habitats or conditions. The significance and complexities of species interactions make them important, but challenging, for predictive models.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Biotic interactions help explain variation in elevational range limits of birds among Bornean mountains

Burner

Boyce

Bernasconi

et al. 2020

Journal of Biogeography

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Aim Physiological tolerances and biotic interactions along habitat gradients are thought to influence species occurrence. Distributional differences caused by such forces are particularly noticeable on tropical mountains, where high species turnover along elevational gradients occurs over relatively short distances and elevational distributions of particular species can shift among mountains. Such shifts are interpreted as evidence of the importance of spatial variation in interspecific competition and habitat or climatic gradients. To assess the relative importance of competition and compression of habitat and climatic zones in setting range limits, we examined differences in elevational ranges of forest bird species among four Bornean mountains with distinct features. Location Bornean mountains Kinabalu, Mulu, Pueh and Topap Oso. Taxon Rain forest bird communities along elevational gradients. Methods We surveyed the elevational ranges of rain forest birds on four mountains in Borneo to test which environmental variables—habitat zone compression or presence of likely competitors—best predicted differences in elevational ranges of species among mountains. For this purpose, we used two complementary tests: a comparison of elevational range limits between pairs of mountains, and linear mixed models with naïve occupancy as the response variable. Results We found that lowland species occur higher in elevation on two small mountains compared to Mt. Mulu. This result is inconsistent with the expectation that distributions of habitats are elevationally compressed on small mountains, but is consistent with the hypothesis that a reduction in competition (likely diffuse) on short mountains, which largely lack montane specialist species, allows lowland species to occur higher in elevation. The relative influence of competition changes with elevation, and the correlation between lower range limits of montane species and the distribution of their competitors was weaker than in lowland species. Main conclusions These findings provide support for the importance of biotic interactions in setting elevational range limits of tropical bird species, although abiotic gradients explain the majority of distribution patterns. Thus, models predicting range shifts under climate change scenarios must include not only climatic variables, as is currently most common, but also information on potentially resulting changes in species interactions, especially for lowland species.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biotic interactions help explain variation in elevational range limits of birds among Bornean mountains

Burner

Boyce

Bernasconi

et al. 2020

Journal of Biogeography

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“…For example, aggressive interference in tropical bird species can lead to checkerboard distributions or mosaic parapatry at local scales [25,77], as well as maintaining true parapatry at larger scales [17,46], through territorial interactions, niche incumbency, and other ecological sorting mechanisms. Moreover, aggressive interference can even shape foraging niches, which has implications for understanding how communities will function under global change [78] (Box 3).…”

Section: Behavioral Interference In Competition Experimentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Causes and Consequences of Behavioral Interference between Species

Grether

Peiman

Tobias

et al. 2017

Trends in Ecology & Evolution

140

162

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Behavioral interference between species, such as territorial aggression, courtship, and mating, is widespread in animals. While aggressive and reproductive forms of interspecific interference have generally been studied separately, their many parallels and connections warrant a unified conceptual approach. Substantial evidence exists that aggressive and reproductive interference have pervasive effects on species coexistence, range limits, and evolutionary processes, including divergent and convergent forms of character displacement. Alien species invasions and climate change-induced range shifts result in novel interspecific interactions, heightening the importance of predicting the consequences of species interactions, and behavioral interference is a fundamental but neglected part of the equation. Here, we outline priorities for further theoretical and empirical research on the ecological and evolutionary consequences of behavioral interference. Interspecific Aggression and Reproductive InterferenceFew subjects in animal behavior have attracted more attention than aggression and sex, yet research tends to stop at species boundaries even when the behaviors themselves do not. Aggressive and sexual interactions between species are surprisingly common and share many parallels in their causes and ecological and evolutionary effects [1][2][3][4][5][6]. Both types of behavioral interference (Box 1) have been hypothesized to: (i) arise as a byproduct of intraspecific interactions (Box 2); (ii) cause local extinction as well as temporal and spatial habitat partitioning; (iii) prevent species from coexisting that otherwise would be expected to coexist; (iv) enable coexistence between species that otherwise would not be expected to coexist; (v) promote or prevent species range shifts and the spread of invasive species; (vi) cause sympatric species to diverge or converge through character displacement processes; (vii) cause populations within a species to diverge from each other due to character displacement in areas of sympatry; and (viii) contribute to reproductive isolation and speciation ( Figure 1).Despite their connections, aggressive interference and reproductive interference (see Glossary) have largely been studied by different researchers in relation to different theoretical frameworks [2,4,7] and in different study systems [3], even though many closely related species interfere with each other in both ways (see Table S1 in [8]). We do not believe that these two categories of interspecific interactions should be synonymized, because this would obscure important differences between them. Instead, we propose that their similarities and interrelationships merit a common conceptual framework, which we introduce here ( Figure 1). TrendsAggressive and reproductive forms of behavioral interference between species are widespread in animals and share many parallels in their underlying causes and their ecological and evolutionary effects.Behavioral interference can determine whether species coexist and, thus, affects speci...

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“…The resulting ecological release is characterised by increased trait variation and population density, with broader resource use leading to morphological diversification and rapid speciation, both prerequisites for adaptive radiation (Yoder et al 2010). Behaviour may drive adaptive responses to environmental change (Touchton & Wikelski 2015), through exposure of individuals to novel conditions through their interaction with resources or dispersal to new areas (Duckworth 2009, Zuk et al 2014). Novel selection pressures may then influence the evolution of new traits, reinforcing selection, and promoting divergence (Zuk et al 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Denning, metabolic suppression, and the realisation of ecological opportunities in Ursidae

et al. 2021

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Through realisation of ecological opportunities, populations and species can experience relaxed selection pressures, facilitating ecological release and leading to rapid speciation and morphological diversification. Behavioural plasticity in response to environmental change contributes to diversification by exposing individuals to novel conditions through their interactions with resources or dispersal to new areas. Despite strong theoretical support, demonstrations of this evolutionary process are rare. The family Ursidae is the product of one or more adaptive radiations following the Miocene–Pliocene transition. Denning behaviour associated with over‐winter seclusion, fasting, and parturition coinciding with seasonally decreased food availability appears to be paraphyletic in Ursidae phylogenies. However, female bears of all species undergo varying degrees of seclusion and fasting during parturition and early post‐natal care, which is not consistent with periods of seasonally decreased food availability. As denning behaviour is tightly linked to fitness through energetics and reproduction, these behaviours are suspected to be under strong selection. Mechanisms responsible for the observed variability among species, populations, and individuals have not been explored. In this review, we detail the evolutionary history of extinct and extant Ursidae regarding expression of denning behaviour and as a function of realised ecological opportunities. We compare behaviours across Ursidae and contextualise our results within extant species ecology. We demonstrate the role of relaxed extrinsic and intrinsic factors in the expression of metabolic suppression among Ursidae species, and across populations and reproductive groups, through the realisation of ecological opportunities. In doing so, we propose a more refined consideration of and perspective on this behaviour and provide a mechanism for the adaptive radiation in Ursidae.

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Ecological opportunity leads to the emergence of an alternative behavioural phenotype in a tropical bird

Cited by 8 publications

References 54 publications

Biotic interactions help explain variation in elevational range limits of birds among Bornean mountains

Biotic interactions help explain variation in elevational range limits of birds among Bornean mountains

Causes and Consequences of Behavioral Interference between Species

Denning, metabolic suppression, and the realisation of ecological opportunities in Ursidae

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