Work

A test of the mechanistic process behind the convergent agonistic character displacement hypothesis

Year: 2024

Type: article

Abstract: In this era of rapid global change, understanding the mechanisms that enable or prevent species from co-occurring has assumed new urgency. The convergent agonistic character displacement (CACD) hypothesis posits that signal similarity enables the co-occurrence of ecological competitors by promoting aggressive interactions that reduce interspecific territory overlap and hence, exploitative competition. In northwestern Switzerland, ca. 10% of Phylloscopus sibilatrix produce songs containing syllables that are typical of their co-occurring sister species, Phylloscopus bonelli (“mixed singers”). To examine whether the consequences of P. sibilatrix mixed singing are consistent with CACD, we combined a playback experiment and an analysis of interspecific territory overlap. Although P. bonelli reacted more aggressively to playback of mixed P. sibilatrix song than to playback of typical P. sibilatrix song, interspecific territory overlap was not reduced for mixed singers. Thus, the CACD hypothesis was not supported, which stresses the importance of distinguishing between interspecific aggressive interactions and their presumed spatial consequences.

Source: Behavioral Ecology

DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arae072

Authors: Shannon Buckley Luepold, Sandro Carlotti, Gilberto Pasinelli

Institutions: University of Zurich, Swiss Ornithological Institute

Language: English

Topic: Animal Vocal Communication and Behavior

Subfield: Developmental Biology

Field: Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

Domain: Life Sciences

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $4,101

Funders: National Science Foundation, Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung