Foraging behaviour of songbirds in woodlands and forests in eastern Australia: resource partitioning and guild structure

Remešová, Eva; Matysioková, Beata; Rubáčová, Lucia; Remeš, Vladimír

doi:10.1080/01584197.2019.1644183

Cited by 4 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…For example, tall forest vegetation provides more foraging substrate for bark-foraging species of birds and, accordingly, the proportion of bark-foraging events increased with increasing canopy height across our study sites (Remešová et al, 2020). On the other hand, in a study of the mulga Acacia aneura habitat with canopy cover less than 20%, songbirds foraged mostly from the ground (63.8% of foraging records; Recher & Davis, 1997).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 75%

“…The additional resources provided by taller vegetation may increase functional diversity of local communities by allowing the coexistence of species characterized by more diverse ecological strategies (Aguirre‐Gutiérrez et al., 2017 ; Oliveira & Scheffers, 2019 ). For example, tall forest vegetation provides more foraging substrate for bark‐foraging species of birds and, accordingly, the proportion of bark‐foraging events increased with increasing canopy height across our study sites (Remešová et al., 2020 ). On the other hand, in a study of the mulga Acacia aneura habitat with canopy cover less than 20%, songbirds foraged mostly from the ground (63.8% of foraging records; Recher & Davis, 1997 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 78%

“…Resource use behavior is especially important because it links each species to its resource base, and indeed, evolutionary divergence in resource use behavior has facilitated spectacular adaptive radiations (Friedman et al., 2019 ; Jønsson et al., 2012 ; Ronco et al., 2021 ). Studies of foraging behavior in local communities have documented fine‐scale partitioning of ecological niches and putative mechanisms of species coexistence (Holmes et al., 1979 ; MacArthur, 1958 ; Morrison et al., 1990 ; Remešová et al., 2020 ). On the other hand, global and continental‐scale studies of food and foraging provided insights into spatial gradients of functional diversity and broadscale species co‐occurrence (Barnagaud et al., 2014 ; Miller et al., 2017 ; Schumm et al., 2019 ; Stevens et al., 2003 ; Terborgh & Robinson, 1986 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Functional diversity of avian communities increases with canopy height: From individual behavior to continental‐scale patterns

Remeš

Remešová

Friedman

et al. 2021

Ecology and Evolution

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Vegetation complexity is an important predictor of animal species diversity. Specifically, taller vegetation should provide more potential ecological niches and thus harbor communities with higher species richness and functional diversity (FD). Resource use behavior is an especially important functional trait because it links species to their resource base with direct relevance to niche partitioning. However, it is unclear how exactly the diversity of resource use behavior changes with vegetation complexity. To address this question, we studied avian FD in relation to vegetation complexity along a continental‐scale vegetation gradient. We quantified foraging behavior of passerine birds in terms of foraging method and substrate use at 21 sites (63 transects) spanning 3,000 km of woodlands and forests in Australia. We also quantified vegetation structure on 630 sampling points at the same sites. Additionally, we measured morphological traits for all 111 observed species in museum collections. We calculated individual‐based, abundance‐weighted FD in morphology and foraging behavior and related it to species richness and vegetation complexity (indexed by canopy height) using structural equation modeling, rarefaction analyses, and distance‐based metrics. FD of morphology and foraging methods was best predicted by species richness. However, FD of substrate use was best predicted by canopy height (ranging 10–30 m), but only when substrates were categorized with fine resolution (17 categories), not when categorized coarsely (8 categories). These results suggest that, first, FD might increase with vegetation complexity independently of species richness, but whether it does so depends on the studied functional trait. Second, patterns found might be shaped by how finely we categorize functional traits. More complex vegetation provided larger "ecological space" with more resources, allowing the coexistence of more species with disproportionately more diverse foraging substrate use. We suggest that the latter pattern was driven by nonrandom accumulation of functionally distinct species with increasing canopy height.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 75%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 78%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Functional diversity of avian communities increases with canopy height: From individual behavior to continental‐scale patterns

Remeš

Remešová

Friedman

et al. 2021

Ecology and Evolution

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“…We calculated several measures of vegetation complexity based on our field measurements and confirmed by a principal component analysis (PCA) analysis that canopy height (varying from 9.4 to 31.7 m) was a good proxy for how complex the vegetation was in terms of the number of vegetation layers and the amount of foliage available for birds to forage on (see Supplementary Table 2 and Supplementary Figures 2, 3). We thus used it as a predictor in all our analyses, in accordance with previous studies (e.g., Gouveia et al, 2014;Coops et al, 2018;Remeš and Harmáčková, 2018;Feng et al, 2020;Remešová et al, 2020;Remeš et al, 2021b).…”

Section: Data Acquisitionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vegetation complexity and pool size predict species richness of forest birds

Remeš

Harmáčková²,

Matysioková³

et al. 2022

Front. Ecol. Evol.

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Disentangling regional and local drivers of species richness in communities is a long-term focus of ecology. Regional species pools affect local communities by providing their constituent species. Additionally, the amount and variety of resources enhance diversity locally. Here, we investigated whether the same ecological factor (vegetation complexity) shapes both regional and local species richness and thus drives local diversity both indirectly (via pool size) and directly (via facilitating the coexistence of species). We studied passerine birds of woodlands and forests in eastern Australia. We quantified regional species pool size and sampled local bird communities at 63 transects spanning 3,000 km. We estimated canopy height both regionally using satellite imagery and locally using vegetation sampling in the field. We studied how species pool size changed with regional canopy height and water availability, and how local species richness changed with pool size and local canopy height. Local species richness increased with both local canopy height and the size of the regional species pool. Pool size, in turn, increased with regional canopy height, which itself increased with water availability. Moreover, local species richness expressed as a proportion of the regional pool also increased with local canopy height. In sum, vegetation complexity indexed by canopy height had a doubly positive effect on local species richness: indirectly by promoting a large regional species pool and directly by facilitating the coexistence of disproportionately many species locally. Regional pools were larger in tall forests probably due to the legacy of extensive moist forests that once covered most of Australia, thus providing a sizeable potential for speciation, diversification, and species persistence. Local species richness was greater in tall, more productive forests with more vegetation layers likely due to more and varied resources (i.e., more potential niches), allowing the coexistence of more individuals and species of consumers.

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Effects of weather on behavioural responses of two warbler (Phylloscopus) species in the Great Himalayan National Park Conservation Area

Parab

Singh

et al. 2023

Ornithol. Res.

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Foraging behaviour of songbirds in woodlands and forests in eastern Australia: resource partitioning and guild structure

Cited by 4 publications

References 35 publications

Functional diversity of avian communities increases with canopy height: From individual behavior to continental‐scale patterns

Functional diversity of avian communities increases with canopy height: From individual behavior to continental‐scale patterns

Vegetation complexity and pool size predict species richness of forest birds

Effects of weather on behavioural responses of two warbler (Phylloscopus) species in the Great Himalayan National Park Conservation Area

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