Interspecific territoriality in two songbird species: potential role of song convergence in male aggressive interactions

Reif, Jiří; Jiran, Martin; Reifová, Radka; Vokurková, Jana; Dolata, Paveł T.; Petrusek, Adam; Petrusková, Tereza

doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2015.03.016

Cited by 33 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 34 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Convergence in territorial signals between competitors resulting in improved discrimination of territorial boundaries (Laiolo, ; Tobias et al., ) might be an alternative to the shift into allotopic sites reducing the probability of the costs of syntopic co‐occurrence. In nightingales, such a convergence in territorial signals was observed in syntopy when Thrush Nightingale copied some parts of the Common Nightingale's song (Vokurková et al., ) with consequences for interspecific territoriality showing the same level of aggressiveness in response to both conspecific and heterospecific intruders (Reif et al., ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This symmetry of interspecific competition is in an accord with results of our recent playback experiments. They showed that the strength of response to heterospecific playback, which is an indication of competitive dominance, do not differ between nightingale species (Reif et al., ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Common Nightingale and the Thrush Nightingale prefer the same dense shrubby habitats, mostly on moist sites (Cramp, ), and their territories are often in close proximity (Becker, ). Interspecific competition between these species can be inferred from spatially exclusive territories in sympatry (Sorjonen, ), strong interspecific aggression (Reif et al., ) and ecological character displacement in beak morphology (Reifová, Reif, Antczak, & Nachman, ). There are some indications that the Thrush Nightingale, which is slightly larger than the Common Nightingale, might be competitively dominant (Reifová, Reif, et al., ; Stadie, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Competition‐driven niche segregation on a landscape scale: Evidence for escaping from syntopy towards allotopy in two coexisting sibling passerine species

Reif

Reifová

Skoracka

et al. 2018

Journal of Animal Ecology

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The role of interspecific competition for generating patterns in species' distribution is hotly debated and studies taking into account processes occurring at both large and small spatial scales are almost missing. Theoretically, competition between species with overlapping niches should result in divergence of their niches in sympatry to reduce the costs of competition. Many species show a mosaic distribution within sympatric zones, with the syntopic sites occupied by both species, and allotopic sites where only one species occurs. It is unclear whether such mosaics arise as a consequence of competition-driven niche segregation or due to the decline of their abundances towards range edges driven by environmental gradients. If the interspecific competition matters, we should observe (1) a shift in habitat preferences of one or both species between syntopy and allotopy, and (2) between allopatry and allotopy. Moreover, (3) species should show greater divergence in their habitat preferences in allotopy than in allopatry where (4) no differences in habitat preferences may occur. Finally, (5) shifts should be generally greater in the competitively subordinate species than in the dominant species. We used a unique dataset on abundance of two closely related passerine species, the Common Nightingale (Luscinia megarhynchos) and the Thrush Nightingale (Luscinia luscinia), collected across their syntopy, allotopy and allopatry. The predictions were tested within a generalized mixed-effects modelling framework. After accounting for environmental gradients perpendicular to the species' contact zone, we found a strong support for all but one prediction. Habitat preferences of both species shifted markedly between syntopy and allotopy, as well as between allopatry and allotopy. Whereas the species preferred the same habitats in allopatry, their preferences became strikingly different in allotopy where the abundance of the Common Nightingale increased towards dry and warm sites with low coverage of pastures, while the abundance of the Thrush Nightingale showed exactly opposite trends. Fifth prediction was not supported. Our results indicate that the competition between closely related species can result in considerable changes in habitat use across their geographic ranges accompanied with divergence in their habitat preferences in sympatry. Here, the species "escape" from competition to allotopic sites covered by habitats avoided by the competitor. Therefore, we argue that the interspecific competition is an important driver of species' distribution at both large and small spatial scales.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Competition‐driven niche segregation on a landscape scale: Evidence for escaping from syntopy towards allotopy in two coexisting sibling passerine species

Reif

Reifová

Skoracka

et al. 2018

Journal of Animal Ecology

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…However, if the species are territorial, such as most birds, and still share territorial signals, which is likely in closely related species (e.g. Reif et al ., ), interspecific interference competition may lead to the spatial segregation of species in sympatry when the dominant competitor forces the submissive species to less preferred habitats (Wiens, ; Qvarnström et al ., ; Rybinski et al ., ). This can result in a mosaic distribution of species in zones of secondary contact (Reif et al ., ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Interspecific competition promotes habitat and morphological divergence in a secondary contact zone between two hybridizing songbirds

Reif

Kuczyński

et al. 2018

J of Evolutionary Biology

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Interspecific competition is assumed to play an important role in the ecological differentiation of species and speciation. However, empirical evidence for competition's role in speciation remains surprisingly scarce. Here, we studied the role of interspecific competition in the ecological differentiation and speciation of two closely related songbird species, the Common Nightingale (Luscinia megarhynchos) and the Thrush Nightingale (Luscinia luscinia). Both species are insectivorous and ecologically very similar. They hybridize in a secondary contact zone, which is a mosaic of sites where both species co-occur (syntopy) and sites where only one species is present (allotopy). We analysed fine-scale habitat data for both species in both syntopic and allotopic sites and looked for associations between habitat use and bill morphology, which have been previously shown to be more divergent in sympatry than in allopatry. We found that the two nightingale species differ in habitat use in allotopic sites, where L. megarhynchos occurred in drier habitats and at slightly higher elevations, but not in syntopic sites. Birds from allotopic sites also showed higher interspecific divergence in relative bill size compared to birds from syntopic sites. Finally, we found an association between bill morphology and elevation. Our results are consistent with the view that interspecific competition in nightingales has resulted in partial habitat segregation in sympatry and that the habitat-specific food supply has in turn very likely led to bill size divergence. Such ecological divergence may enhance prezygotic as well as extrinsic postzygotic isolation and thus accelerate the completion of the speciation process.

show abstract

“…Another kind of bird acoustic signal—bird song—is generally assumed to affect only conspecifics, because the main function of bird song serves to attract mates (conspecific females) and to deter conspecific territorial (male) rivals (Kroodsma & Byers, ; Slater, ). An ecologically wide array of different bird species increase their singing activity in response to heterospecific playback (Møller, ), but most studies have attributed these responses to the similar song features among sibling species (Martin & Martin, ; Reif et al., ) or interspecific competition among species with similar niches (Gorissen, Gorissen, & Eens, ; Grava, Grava, & Otter, ). Two recent studies have suggested that songbirds may use heterospecific songs as cues to acquire social information.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dawn singing of the Brownish‐flanked Bush Warbler influences dawn chorusing in a bird community

et al. 2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Despite numerous studies on the function of the avian dawn chorus, few studies have examined whether dawn singing may influence the singing of other species. Here, we built on our previous study which found male Brownish‐flanked Bush Warblers (Horornis fortipes) increase their dawn singing intensity after conspecific playback on the previous day. We reanalyzed those recordings to quantify the start of dawn singing in other nine sympatric songbird species. Ranking‐scaling analyses identified a distinctive sequential pattern of dawn singing among these bird species between the first and the second dawn chorus, and meta‐analysis showed a significant trend to singing earlier in the bird community accompanied by the increase in dawn singing intensity in Brownish‐flanked Bush Warbler. Species with songs most similar to that of the Brownish‐flanked Bush Warbler and species that were phylogenetically distantly related to the Brownish‐flanked Bush Warbler showed a greater shift in the onset of dawn singing. Our study is one of the few studies showing how bird song influences heterospecific singing, and this may influence the temporal organization of song activity in the community, and result in synchronization in singing activities among different species, such as singing in dawn and dusk chorus.

show abstract

Interspecific territoriality in two songbird species: potential role of song convergence in male aggressive interactions

Cited by 33 publications

References 34 publications

Competition‐driven niche segregation on a landscape scale: Evidence for escaping from syntopy towards allotopy in two coexisting sibling passerine species

Competition‐driven niche segregation on a landscape scale: Evidence for escaping from syntopy towards allotopy in two coexisting sibling passerine species

Interspecific competition promotes habitat and morphological divergence in a secondary contact zone between two hybridizing songbirds

Dawn singing of the Brownish‐flanked Bush Warbler influences dawn chorusing in a bird community

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About