New Aethopyga Sunbirds (Aves: Nectariniidae) from the Island of Mindanao, Philippines

Kennedy, Robert S.; Gonzales, Pedro C.

doi:10.2307/4089060

Cited by 15 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…Several recent studies have re-evaluated species limits in Philippine birds, and have led to the recognition of additional species taxa (Collar et al 1999;Kennedy et al 1997Kennedy et al , 2001. As in other regions (Navarro-Sigüenza et al 2002, however, much more alpha taxonomic work is necessary to achieve a genuinely comparative treatment of species limits, both in reassessing species limits under the biological species concept and in outlining species limits under alternative concepts.…”

Section: Philippine Birds Philippine Birds Philippine Birds Philippinmentioning

confidence: 99%

Taxonomy is important in conservation: a preliminary reassessment of Philippine species-level bird taxonomy

Peterson

2006

Bird Conservation International

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Alpha taxonomy involves delineation of the basic unit of biology: the species. The concepts by which we define species, however, have been controversial, with several alternatives competing at present, some creating fewer and some more species units, depending on interpretation of species limits. Although it is tempting to assume that species concepts would have little interaction with the geographic foci of species richness and endemism -and some have so argued -this assumption does not withstand careful analysis. In this paper, I develop a first-pass assessment of Philippine bird taxonomy under an alternative species concept, and compare the results with the traditional biological species concept lists. Differences between the two lists were dramatic, but not just in numbers of species; rather, new, previously unrecognized or previously underappreciated foci of endemism were noted. A thorough understanding of the taxonomic basis of species lists is therefore critical to conservation planning.

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Section: Philippine Birds Philippine Birds Philippine Birds Philippinmentioning

confidence: 99%

Taxonomy is important in conservation: a preliminary reassessment of Philippine species-level bird taxonomy

Peterson

2006

Bird Conservation International

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“…Data on island area, landbird species richness, and raptor species richness were compiled from the literature (16,27,(39)(40)(41)(42) for each island from which we had bird skeletal measurements. We included regularly occurring resident or migrant species, but excluded vagrants and rarities.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predictable evolution toward flightlessness in volant island birds

Wright

Steadman

Witt

2016

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

139

137

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Birds are prolific colonists of islands, where they readily evolve distinct forms. Identifying predictable, directional patterns of evolutionary change in island birds, however, has proved challenging. The "island rule" predicts that island species evolve toward intermediate sizes, but its general applicability to birds is questionable. However, convergent evolution has clearly occurred in the island bird lineages that have undergone transitions to secondary flightlessness, a process involving drastic reduction of the flight muscles and enlargement of the hindlimbs. Here, we investigated whether volant island bird populations tend to change shape in a way that converges subtly on the flightless form. We found that island bird species have evolved smaller flight muscles than their continental relatives. Furthermore, in 366 populations of Caribbean and Pacific birds, smaller flight muscles and longer legs evolved in response to increasing insularity and, strikingly, the scarcity of avian and mammalian predators. On smaller islands with fewer predators, birds exhibited shifts in investment from forelimbs to hindlimbs that were qualitatively similar to anatomical rearrangements observed in flightless birds. These findings suggest that island bird populations tend to evolve on a trajectory toward flightlessness, even if most remain volant. This pattern was consistent across nine families and four orders that vary in lifestyle, foraging behavior, flight style, and body size. These predictable shifts in avian morphology may reduce the physical capacity for escape via flight and diminish the potential for small-island taxa to diversify via dispersal.B irds on islands helped to inspire the theory of evolution by natural selection (1, 2), and they continue to illuminate its mechanisms (e.g., ref.3). Some studies have reported that the bodies and bills of island birds systematically shift in size, reflecting evolution toward a generalist niche in species-poor communities (4-8). The tendency for island taxa to converge toward intermediate body size after colonizing islands is known as the island rule (4), but this ecogeographic rule has proven to be an inconsistent predictor of evolutionary trends in island bird populations (9-12). Detailed studies of island radiations have revealed idiosyncratic patterns of body size and bill size evolution among species, with morphological changes attributable to taxon-specific changes in foraging ecology (e.g., ref. 12). This inconsistency raises the question as to whether there are predictable evolutionary trends that apply generally to island birds.The most striking evolutionary trend among island birds is the loss of flight. Transitions to flightlessness are rapid and irreversible (13,14), with each instance involving the substantial reallocation of mass from the forelimbs to the hindlimbs and near elimination of costly flight muscles (15-18). More than 1,000 independent lineages of island birds have lost flight, including rails, parrots, pigeons, owls, waterfowl, and passerines (13-1...

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“…However, for at least Mindanao, Luzon, and Negros, some species have restricted distributions within the islands, making choice of reserves critical to the success of conservation strategies. For example, in the case of Mindanao, McGregor's Cuckooshrike Coracina mcgregori is found only in the north-western sector of the island, and does not occur on the southern and eastern massifs, whereas the newly described Lina's Sunbird Aethopyga linaraborae is apparently restricted to the eastern Mindanao massif that includes Mt Mayo (Kennedy et al 1997). Reserves on these larger and more complex islands will need to be designed so as to include each unique biological element.…”

Section: Conservation Prioritiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The subdivided, insular nature of the country constitutes a major challenge to conservation efforts, as choosing a geographic focus is critical to the success or failure of a particular effort. Because much of the country's biodiversity remains in the documentation phase (e.g., Kennedy et al 1997), efforts to prioritize islands with regard to importance for biodiversity conservation have been compromised; the only study that has taken on this challenge, Hauge et al (1986), considered a limited sector of the islands in the archipelago (the six best known avifaunistically). Dickinson et al (1991) provided a detailed summary of the distribution of each of the 552 species of birds known to occur in the country.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Distribution of the birds of the Philippines: biogeography and conservation priorities

Peterson¹,

Ball²,

Brady³

2000

Bird Conservation International

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SummaryThe Philippine islands hold a concentration of species diversity and endemism of global importance, yet few studies have analyzed biogeographic patterns or attempted to prioritize areas for conservation within the archipelago. We analyzed distributions of 386 species on 28 Philippine islands and island groups, documenting intense concentration of species richness, especially of endemic species, on the two largest islands, Mindanao and Luzon. Factors identified as influencing species richness included island area, maximum elevation, and Pleistocene patterns of connection and isolation. Reserve systems were developed based on heuristic complementarity algorithms, and compared with the existing Integrated Protected Areas (IPAS) system in the country, showing that IPAS is an impressive first step towards protecting avian diversity in the country. Addition of presently proposed reserves on Palawan and Mindoro would make IPAS a near-optimal reserve design, at least at the level of island representation. Important challenges remain, however, with regard to design of reserve systems within islands to represent complete island avifaunas.

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New Aethopyga Sunbirds (Aves: Nectariniidae) from the Island of Mindanao, Philippines

Cited by 15 publications

References 4 publications

Taxonomy is important in conservation: a preliminary reassessment of Philippine species-level bird taxonomy

Taxonomy is important in conservation: a preliminary reassessment of Philippine species-level bird taxonomy

Predictable evolution toward flightlessness in volant island birds

Distribution of the birds of the Philippines: biogeography and conservation priorities

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