Temporal avoidance as a means of reducing competition between sympatric species
Human activity has modified the availability of natural resources and the abundance of species that rely on them, potentially changing interspecific competition dynamics. Here, we use large-scale automated data collection to quantify spatio-temporal competition among species with contrasting populat...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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The Royal Society
2023-05-01
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| Series: | Royal Society Open Science |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.230521 |
| _version_ | 1797821442539126784 |
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| author | Marta Maziarz Richard K. Broughton Kristina B. Beck Robert A. Robinson Ben C. Sheldon |
| author_facet | Marta Maziarz Richard K. Broughton Kristina B. Beck Robert A. Robinson Ben C. Sheldon |
| author_sort | Marta Maziarz |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Human activity has modified the availability of natural resources and the abundance of species that rely on them, potentially changing interspecific competition dynamics. Here, we use large-scale automated data collection to quantify spatio-temporal competition among species with contrasting population trends. We focus on the spatial and temporal foraging behaviour of subordinate marsh tits Poecile palustris among groups of socially and numerically dominant blue tits Cyanistes caeruleus and great tits Parus major. The three species exploit similar food resources in mixed groups during autumn–winter. Using 421 077 winter recordings of individually marked birds at 65 automated feeding stations in Wytham Woods (Oxfordshire, UK), we found that marsh tits were less likely to join larger groups of heterospecifics, and they accessed food less frequently in larger groups than in smaller ones. Marsh tit numbers within groups declined throughout the diurnal and winter periods, while the number of blue and great tits increased. However, sites that attracted larger groups of these heterospecifics also attracted more marsh tits. The results suggest that subordinate species exhibit temporal avoidance of socially and numerically dominant heterospecifics, but have limited ability for spatial avoidance, indicating that behavioural plasticity enables only a partial reduction of interspecific competition. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-13T09:52:45Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a157d8f683b746eeb902fa503ef4c8c9 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2054-5703 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-13T09:52:45Z |
| publishDate | 2023-05-01 |
| publisher | The Royal Society |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Royal Society Open Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-a157d8f683b746eeb902fa503ef4c8c92023-05-24T07:05:57ZengThe Royal SocietyRoyal Society Open Science2054-57032023-05-0110510.1098/rsos.230521Temporal avoidance as a means of reducing competition between sympatric speciesMarta Maziarz0Richard K. Broughton1Kristina B. Beck2Robert A. Robinson3Ben C. Sheldon4Edward Grey Institute, Department of Biology, Oxford University, Oxford OX1 3SZ, UKEdward Grey Institute, Department of Biology, Oxford University, Oxford OX1 3SZ, UKEdward Grey Institute, Department of Biology, Oxford University, Oxford OX1 3SZ, UKBritish Trust for Ornithology, The Nunnery, Thetford IP24 2PU, UKEdward Grey Institute, Department of Biology, Oxford University, Oxford OX1 3SZ, UKHuman activity has modified the availability of natural resources and the abundance of species that rely on them, potentially changing interspecific competition dynamics. Here, we use large-scale automated data collection to quantify spatio-temporal competition among species with contrasting population trends. We focus on the spatial and temporal foraging behaviour of subordinate marsh tits Poecile palustris among groups of socially and numerically dominant blue tits Cyanistes caeruleus and great tits Parus major. The three species exploit similar food resources in mixed groups during autumn–winter. Using 421 077 winter recordings of individually marked birds at 65 automated feeding stations in Wytham Woods (Oxfordshire, UK), we found that marsh tits were less likely to join larger groups of heterospecifics, and they accessed food less frequently in larger groups than in smaller ones. Marsh tit numbers within groups declined throughout the diurnal and winter periods, while the number of blue and great tits increased. However, sites that attracted larger groups of these heterospecifics also attracted more marsh tits. The results suggest that subordinate species exhibit temporal avoidance of socially and numerically dominant heterospecifics, but have limited ability for spatial avoidance, indicating that behavioural plasticity enables only a partial reduction of interspecific competition.https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.230521interspecific competitioninterferenceforaging behaviourmixed-species groupssocial hierarchysympatric woodland species |
| spellingShingle | Marta Maziarz Richard K. Broughton Kristina B. Beck Robert A. Robinson Ben C. Sheldon Temporal avoidance as a means of reducing competition between sympatric species Royal Society Open Science interspecific competition interference foraging behaviour mixed-species groups social hierarchy sympatric woodland species |
| title | Temporal avoidance as a means of reducing competition between sympatric species |
| title_full | Temporal avoidance as a means of reducing competition between sympatric species |
| title_fullStr | Temporal avoidance as a means of reducing competition between sympatric species |
| title_full_unstemmed | Temporal avoidance as a means of reducing competition between sympatric species |
| title_short | Temporal avoidance as a means of reducing competition between sympatric species |
| title_sort | temporal avoidance as a means of reducing competition between sympatric species |
| topic | interspecific competition interference foraging behaviour mixed-species groups social hierarchy sympatric woodland species |
| url | https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.230521 |
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