The threat by the invasive African tulip tree,

Charles Darwin proposed his ‘principle of divergence’ to account for changes in traits that could promote speciation and coexistence of diverse forms through occupation of different niches to reduce interspecific competition. We explore interspecific foraging behaviour overlap in Fiji’s forest birds, and address two main questions: (1) Is there vertical stratification of foraging behavior? and (2) Is there evidence of interspecific competition driving the differences in foraging behaviour? We explore these questions across three foraging guilds, nectarivores (three species), insectivores (two species), and omnivores (two species), and find vertical portioning of foraging in each group. To investigate the effect of interspecific competition, we compared foraging heights of the Orange-breasted Myzomela (Myzomela jugularis) honeyeater on Viti Levu Island (where it coexists with two other honeyeater species) and Leleuvia Island (no other honeyeater species). On the main island Viti Levu, we found evidence for vertical niche partitioning within each foraging guild. On Leleuvia, with the ‘one-species only foraging guild’, Orange-breasted Myzomela occupied broader vertical foraging niche than on Viti Levu with two other competitor honeyeater species. This result supports the idea that vertical foraging height can be shaped by interspecific competition. The findings of this study support Darwin’s principle of divergence in Fiji’s forest birds for every foraging guild measured and adds to our understanding of the significance of interspecific competition and niche divergence for patterns of ecological speciation on islands.

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“…(Sterculiaceae), Bischofia javanica Blume (Phyllanthaceae), and Dendrocnide harveyi (Seem.) Chew (Urticaceae) are the dominant tree species [38].…”

Section: Study Sitesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Interspecific Competition and Vertical Niche Partitioning in Fiji’s Forest Birds

et al. 2022

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“…The habitat of P. macranthum in SSR-XNNR is mainly tropical monsoon forest, a similar ecological niche to other species like P. tinctorum and P. oceanicum, and the Author-formatted, not peer-reviewed document posted on 11/04/2023. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/arphapreprints.e104785 tree is an iconic tree species to such forest type, even becoming dominant in some areas (Tripathi et al 2004;Keppel et al 2021;Hernandez et al 2021). Zhu et al (2015) confirmed that the tropical rainforests of Xishuangbanna are part of the southeast Asia tropical rainforests by analyzing floristics characteristic.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…(Rivers 2016) has drawn more attention. Keppel et al (2021) showed that P. oceanicum has a narrow ecological niche, that its habitats are degraded, and that its population may be threatened by an alien species of similar ecological niche (the invasion of Spathodea campanulata P.Beauv.). Only 433 individuals of P. resources, we confirmed that the species and the genus are new to China.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pterocymbium R. Br (Sterculioideae, Malvaceae), a genus new to China and suggestions for conservation

Zhao¹,

Tan²,

Yang³

et al. 2023

Preprint

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The genus Pterocymbium R. Br. is new to China, and the remarkable discovery is reported in the present study. P. macranthum Kosterm., a winged-boot tree published in 1962, has recently been spotted in the border regions of China and Laos. The main detailed anatomical characteristics of the flower are photographed, and supplementary descriptions of the species are made based on fresh materials, herbarium collections, and available literature. Historically, the tree is only recorded in Southcentral Myanmar to Northern and Southwestern Thailand. The new record in the present study extends the known geographical range of P. macranthum to the northern edge of the Asian tropics and contributes to the knowledge of the tree flora both in China and Southeast Asia. Aided by drones, the population size of China has been rapidly assessed, and ca. 1000 individuals were recognized from high-resolution photos in ca. 2000 ha area. Herbaria were prepared and deposited in the herbarium of Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences (HITBC).

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“…The eighth group was S. campanula, assigned its own functional group because it represents an introduced fast-growing pioneer taking advantage of degraded forest ecosystems [79] and competing with native vegetation. This niche has resulted in it either coexisting with or being a threat to native species [80][81][82][83][84][85]. Consequently, it represents a conspicuous species to monitor within various tropical insular landscapes, especially because its seedlings may have some shade tolerance [80].…”

Section: Temporal Trends In Functional Groupsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multiscale predictors of small tree survival across a heterogeneous tropical landscape

Helmer

Kay²,

Marcano‐Vega³

et al. 2023

PLoS ONE

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Uncertainties about controls on tree mortality make forest responses to land-use and climate change difficult to predict. We tracked biomass of tree functional groups in tropical forest inventories across Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and with random forests we ranked 86 potential predictors of small tree survival (young or mature stems 2.5–12.6 cm diameter at breast height). Forests span dry to cloud forests, range in age, geology and past land use and experienced severe drought and storms. When excluding species as a predictor, top predictors are tree crown ratio and height, two to three species traits and stand to regional factors reflecting local disturbance and the system state (widespread recovery, drought, hurricanes). Native species, and species with denser wood, taller maximum height, or medium typical height survive longer, but short trees and species survive hurricanes better. Trees survive longer in older stands and with less disturbed canopies, harsher geoclimates (dry, edaphically dry, e.g., serpentine substrates, and highest-elevation cloud forest), or in intervals removed from hurricanes. Satellite image phenology and bands, even from past decades, are top predictors, being sensitive to vegetation type and disturbance. Covariation between stand-level species traits and geoclimate, disturbance and neighboring species types may explain why most neighbor variables, including introduced vs. native species, had low or no importance, despite univariate correlations with survival. As forests recovered from a hurricane in 1998 and earlier deforestation, small trees of introduced species, which on average have lighter wood, died at twice the rate of natives. After hurricanes in 2017, the total biomass of trees ≥12.7 cm dbh of the introduced species Spathodea campanulata spiked, suggesting that more frequent hurricanes might perpetuate this light-wooded species commonness. If hurricane recovery favors light-wooded species while drought favors others, climate change influences on forest composition and ecosystem services may depend on the frequency and severity of extreme climate events.

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The threat by the invasive African tulip tree,

Cited by 9 publications

References 47 publications

Interspecific Competition and Vertical Niche Partitioning in Fiji’s Forest Birds

Interspecific Competition and Vertical Niche Partitioning in Fiji’s Forest Birds

Pterocymbium R. Br (Sterculioideae, Malvaceae), a genus new to China and suggestions for conservation

Multiscale predictors of small tree survival across a heterogeneous tropical landscape

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