Elevational replacement of two Himalayan titmice: interspecific competition or habitat preference?

Barve, Sahas; Dhondt, André A.

doi:10.1111/jav.01267

Cited by 18 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…Our findings contrast with earlier suggestions that congeneric competition is an important driver of elevational zonation among tropical birds (Freeman et al, 2019; Terborgh & Weske, 1975) and instead align with studies that found only scarce evidence for congeneric competition among montane bird communities (Barve & Dhondt, 2017; Dehn & Christiansen, 2001; Elsen et al, 2017; Jankoswki et al, 2010). We found that all congeneric species overlapped to some extent in their elevational ranges (see ranges in Table S1) and it is likely that other forms of niche partitioning (e.g., regarding diets or the location of reproductive sites) account for these levels of sympatry (Elsen et al, 2017).…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 98%

Elevational distribution of birds in an Eastern African montane environment as governed by temperature, precipitation, and habitat availability

et al. 2021

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Tropical species, many of which have limited thermal tolerances and narrow ecological niches, are likely to experience elevational shifts due to climate change. However, our ability to predict these shifts is limited by a scarcity of baseline data on current distributions and a lack of understanding of drivers of species ranges. To characterize the elevational distributions of a suite of Afromontane birds, we conducted annual point counts between 2013 and 2018 at 297 plots across habitats and elevations (2416–4303 m) in Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda. We assessed elevational and habitat preferences via indicator analyses, and modeled abundance distributions as a function of temperature, precipitation, habitat availability, and congeneric competition. Although most of the 35 focal species were distributed across habitats and elevational ranges, 20 species particularly associated with narrow elevational range (<300 m) and 24 species were strongly associated with one to three habitat types. Abiotic factors significantly correlated with abundance distributions of 33 species (temperature 33, precipitation 17), and biotic factors with distributions of 31 species (habitat 30, competition 7). Temperature and habitat availability were particularly associated with upper elevational limits (31 and 26 species, respectively, vs. 10 and 6 at lower limits), whereas precipitation affected both limits similarly (17 lower, 16 upper), and competition had a limited role at either limit (4 lower, 3 upper). That the elevational distribution of Afromontane birds results from a species‐specific combination of biotic and abiotic factors is crucial information in our effort to predict climate change effects in this region.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 98%

Elevational distribution of birds in an Eastern African montane environment as governed by temperature, precipitation, and habitat availability

et al. 2021

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“…Thermoregulatory ability is just one of many factors, biotic and abiotic, and the interactions between the two, that ultimately drive the elevational distribution of a montane bird (McCain 2009, Cadena et al 2012, Jankowski et al 2013, Barve and Dhondt 2017. Avian thermoregulation in itself is complex, ranging from behavioral (Barçante et al 2017) to molecular adaptations (Stager and Cheviron 2020) for surviving cold stress.…”

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confidence: 99%

Elevation and body size drive convergent variation in thermo‐insulative feather structure of Himalayan birds

et al. 2021

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Globally, high elevation habitats have been independently colonized by taxa separated by millions of years of evolution. Mountains thus represent excellent systems to study how distantly related species adapt to the same environmental challenges. Cold temperatures influence the elevational distribution of birds along montane gradients. Yet the eco-physiological adaptations that may explain this pattern, such as variation in insulative feather structure across high elevation and low elevation species has not been quantified. We used a comparative approach to understand if elevation, evolutionary history and body size drive variation in thermo-insulative feather traits across 1715 specimens of 249 Himalayan passerines. Controlling for phylogenetic relationships between species, we found that the proportion of the feather's plumulaceous (downy) section increased with elevation. Body size also had a predictable effect on thermo-insulative variables with small birds having relatively longer feathers and thus a more insulative plumage than large birds. We show that an increase in the proportion of the feather's downy section at colder temperatures is an evolutionarily widespread response across temperate and tropical taxa, and overall, smaller-bodied birds tend to have longer and more insulative feathers. Our results reveal convergent patterns in feather structure variation as a response to cold temperatures across species separated by millions of years of evolution.

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“…In the model that included latitudinal zone, the estimate for tropical species-pairs was positive and did not overlap zero, indicating that the tendency for lower elevation species to be more aggressive in playback studies was associated with the tropics (Figure 3; the estimate for the subgroup of temperate zone species-pairs was approximately zero). While most studies conducted either direct observations or playback experiments, there were two studies that measured interspecific aggression using both direct observations and playback experiments, and these two studies both reported congruent results between the two methodologies (Pasch et al , 2013; Barve & Dhondt, 2017).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mixed support for the idea that lower elevation animals are better competitors than their upper elevation relatives

2019

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Aim What factors set species' range edges? One general hypothesis, often attributed to Darwin and MacArthur, is that interspecific competition prevents species from inhabiting the warmest portions along geographic gradients (i.e., low latitudes or low elevations). A prediction arising from this Darwin–MacArthur hypothesis is that lower elevation species are better competitors than related higher elevation species. An alternative prediction is that higher elevation animal taxa will tend to be better competitors because they will tend to be larger (Bergmann's rule). Here, I test these opposing predictions. Location Global. Time period 1971–2019. Major taxa studied Birds, mammals, amphibians, fishes. Methods I conducted a meta‐analysis of studies that measured pairwise behavioural aggression between species‐pairs of closely related animals where the two species inhabit divergent elevational distributions. Results I found that (a) interspecific aggression appears to be a reliable indicator of interspecific competition; (b) elevational position was not consistently linked to interspecific aggression—while lower elevation songbird species in the tropics showed stronger interspecific aggression in response to playback experiments, higher elevation species showed stronger interspecific aggression in direct observations of interspecific aggression across a range of taxa and latitudes; (c) body size was a good predictor of pairwise interspecific aggression and (d) there was limited evidence for Bergmann's rule. Main conclusions My results do not support the longstanding prediction that lower elevation animals are generally better competitors than their higher elevation relatives. Instead, patterns of interspecific aggression are linked to body size, with larger animals showing more aggression towards smaller relatives than vice versa. Hence, a trait—body size—that is idiosyncratically related to elevational position appear to determine the outcome of pairwise behavioural interactions. Last, I consider these results in the context of the hypothesis that behavioural interactions may impact rates of upslope range shifts associated with recent warming.

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Elevational replacement of two Himalayan titmice: interspecific competition or habitat preference?

Cited by 18 publications

References 27 publications

Elevational distribution of birds in an Eastern African montane environment as governed by temperature, precipitation, and habitat availability

Elevational distribution of birds in an Eastern African montane environment as governed by temperature, precipitation, and habitat availability

Elevation and body size drive convergent variation in thermo‐insulative feather structure of Himalayan birds

Mixed support for the idea that lower elevation animals are better competitors than their upper elevation relatives

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