Dataset Information

The relationship between morphology and behavior in mixed-species flocks of island birds.

ABSTRACT: Understanding how co-occurring species divide ecological space is a central issue in ecology. Functional traits have the potential to serve as a means for quantitatively assessing niche partitioning by different species based on their ecological attributes, such as morphology, behavior, or trophic habit. This enables testing ecological and evolutionary questions using functional traits at spatio-temporal scales that are not feasible using traditional field methods. Both rapid evolutionary change and inter- and intraspecific competition, however, may limit the utility of morphological functional traits as indicators of how niches are partitioned. To address how behavior and morphology interact, we quantified foraging behavior of mixed-species flocks of birds in the Solomon Islands to test whether behavior and morphology are correlated in these flocks. We find that foraging behavior is significantly correlated with morphological traits (p = .05), but this correlation breaks down after correcting for phylogenetic relatedness (p = .66). These results suggest that there are consistent correlations between aspects of behavior and morphology at large taxonomic scales (e.g., across genera), but the relationship between behavior and morphology depends largely on among-clade differences and may be idiosyncratic at shallower scales (e.g., within genera). As a result, general relationships between behaviors and morphology may not be applicable when comparing close relatives.

SUBMITTER: Weeks BC

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7548193 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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The relationship between morphology and behavior in mixed-species flocks of island birds.

Weeks Brian C BC Naeem Shahid S Winger Benjamin M BM Cracraft Joel J

Ecology and evolution 20200925 19

Understanding how co-occurring species divide ecological space is a central issue in ecology. Functional traits have the potential to serve as a means for quantitatively assessing niche partitioning by different species based on their ecological attributes, such as morphology, behavior, or trophic habit. This enables testing ecological and evolutionary questions using functional traits at spatio-temporal scales that are not feasible using traditional field methods. Both rapid evolutionary change ...[more]

PMID: 33072282

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Project description:Animals acquire information produced by other species to reduce uncertainty and avoid predators. Mixed-species flocks (MSFs) of birds are ubiquitous in forest ecosystems and structured, in part, around interspecific information transfer, with "nuclear" species providing information that other species eavesdrop on. We hypothesized that in a seasonal tropical forest, the amount of information produced by birds about predation would be dynamic and particularly would decrease inside MSFs when the nuclear species leave MSFs to breed. We obtained baseline information on MSF encounter rate and species composition along established sampling routes over 9 months near the Sino-Vietnamese border. We also conducted three experiments to quantify information produced by different species in response to typical predator encounters, including a moving predator stimulus presented inside of MSFs, and a stationary predator model presented both inside and outside of MSFs. MSFs were much less frequent in the breeding season with fewer individuals of the nuclear species, David's Fulvetta (Alcippe davidi), participating, though the diversity of other species remained stable. Fulvettas were the dominant producer of alarm-related information both to the moving and stationary stimuli in MSFs and were also among the most active mobbers to stimuli presented outside of MSFs. In the breeding season, they tended to call less to the moving stimulus, and substantially fewer individuals responded to the in-flock stationary stimulus. Other species increased their own information production at stationary predator stimuli (inside and outside of MSFs) during the breeding season, perhaps due to their increased investment in offspring during this time. Yet even during the breeding season, David's Fulvetta remained the highest producer of information about predators in MSFs. Hence, while we show that information production in MSFs can be somewhat dynamic, we describe a continually asymmetric communication system, in which a nuclear species is important to the whole community.

Dataset Information

The relationship between morphology and behavior in mixed-species flocks of island birds.

Publications

The relationship between morphology and behavior in mixed-species flocks of island birds.

Similar Datasets

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