Foraging Niche Structure and Coexistence in a Highly Diverse Community Of
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Foraging niche structure and coexistence in a highly diverse community of Amazonian antbirds (Thamnophilidae: Aves) by SANTIAGO DAVID B.Sc, Universidad de Antioquia, 2011 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE AND POSTDOCTORAL STUDIES (Zoology) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) May 2016 © Santiago David, 2016 Abstract The high species richness of antbirds (Thamnophilidae) in Amazonian lowlands, where as many as 40 species may coexist at local scales, represents a major challenge for ecologists to explain patterns of coexistence and niche evolution. I studied the foraging ecology of a local community of antbirds in a 2-Km2 area of lowland forest in SE Peru to examine how co- occurring antbird species differ in their use of foraging resources, and whether these differences result in niche partitioning at the community level. I also examined whether resource use similarity was related to phylogenetic similarity in this local assemblage. Forty-four species of antbirds were detected in the study plot in a four-year period, with 30 species categorized as the local assemblage of common resident breeders. Multivariate analysis of foraging parameters showed that segregation at two height layers in two types of forest was more important than foraging substrates and maneuvers in explaining the differences observed in foraging behavior. However, a null model analysis revealed that at the community level, antbirds exhibited high foraging niche overlap, with average observed overlap significantly larger than expected by chance, indicating that antbirds prefer, rather than avoid, resources used by other species. No general relationship exists between phylogenetic similarity and niche overlap. Closely related species consistently exhibit high values of niche overlap, but some distantly related species also exhibit high niche similarity. Taken together, these results suggest that foraging niche similarity is the predominant pattern among co-occurring antbirds, and that positive interactions might explain the stable coexistence of species that use similar resources and habitats at a local scale. ii Preface Research questions and project design were carried out collaboratively between my supervisor, Dr. Jill Jankowski, and me. I carried out the fieldwork for collecting foraging information. Dr. Gustavo Londoño and Dr. Jill Jankowski provided data on mist-netting captures, point counts and nest surveys to define the species assemblage, from the Manu Bird Project. Phylogenetic data was obtained from published literature. I conducted all analyses and writing of this thesis. Dr. Jankowski provided helpful feedback on interpretation of results and thesis preparation. iii Table of Contents Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... ii! Preface ........................................................................................................................................... iii! Table of Contents ......................................................................................................................... iv! List of Tables ................................................................................................................................. vi! List of Figures .............................................................................................................................. vii! Acknowledgements ..................................................................................................................... viii! Dedication ..................................................................................................................................... ix! Chapter 1: Introduction ................................................................................................................ 1! 1.1! Species diversity in tropical bird communities .................................................................. 1! 1.2! Species coexistence and evolution of ecological traits ...................................................... 2! 1.3! Antbirds (Thamnophilidae) as a complex case of coexistence .......................................... 3! 1.4! Study goals and questions .................................................................................................. 4! Chapter 2: Foraging patterns and resource partitioning in a community of antbirds ........... 6! 2.1! Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 6! 2.2! Methods .............................................................................................................................. 9! 2.2.1! Study Site .................................................................................................................... 9! 2.2.2! Local community of antbirds .................................................................................... 10! 2.2.3! Foraging data ............................................................................................................. 11! 2.2.4! Foraging data analysis ............................................................................................... 12! 2.2.5! Null model analysis ................................................................................................... 12! 2.2.6! Niche overlap and phylogenetic distance .................................................................. 14! iv 2.3! Results .............................................................................................................................. 15! 2.3.1! Local community of antbirds .................................................................................... 15! 2.3.2! Foraging behavior ..................................................................................................... 17! 2.3.3! Niche overlap and phylogenetic distance .................................................................. 19! 2.4! Discussion ........................................................................................................................ 19! Chapter 3: Conclusions ............................................................................................................... 33! 3.1! General conclusions ......................................................................................................... 33! 3.2! Recommendations for future research .............................................................................. 35! References .................................................................................................................................... 37! Appendices ................................................................................................................................... 43! Appendix A Null model analysis .............................................................................................. 43! Appendix B Null model analysis by group of foraging categories ........................................... 44! Appendix C Summary of antbirds detected in the study plot ................................................... 45! v List of Tables Table 1. Foraging information of members of the antbirds assemblage in the study plot at Pantiacolla Lodge, SE Peru ........................................................................................................... 25 Table 2. Principal component analysis of foraging data from members of the antbirds assemblage at Pantiacolla Lodge, SE Peru ....................................................................................................... 26 vi List of Figures Figure 1. Boxplot of foraging height of the antbird assemblage at Pantiacolla Lodge, Peru. Sample sizes for each species are provided in Table 1. Black horizontal lines represent the median, and the boxes represent the first and third quartile of the distribution of data per species. Circles represent extreme values of foraging height ..................................................................... 27 Figure 2. Frequency (% of observations) of use of foraging maneuvers by members of the antbird assemblage at Pantiacolla Lodge, Peru. FC = flutter-chase, GL = glean, HG = hang-glean, LG = leap-glean, PR = probe, RE = reach, SH = sally-hover, SS = sally-strike……………………….28 Figure 3. Frequency (% of observations) of use of foraging substrates by members of the antbird assemblage at Pantiacolla Lodge, Peru. AIR = air, BGL = bamboo green leaves, DSS = dead stems or branches, GRL = green live leaves, HDL = hanging dead leaves, LLT = leaf litter, and LST = live stems or branches……………………………………………………………………29 Figure 4. Ordination of the antbirds assemblage of Pantiacolla Lodge from principal component analysis based on foraging data………………………………………………………………….30 Figure 5. Frequency distribution of random niche overlap values relative to average niche overlap observed (red line) for antbird assemblage. Dotted lines represent the 95% CI for the estimate…………………………………………………………………………………………..31 Figure 6. Relationship between pairwise species niche overlap (Pianka’s index) and pairwise phylogenetic distance (branch lengths from ML ultrametric tree) among species in a local assemblage, SE Peru. A niche overlap index of 0 indicates species that share no resources, whereas 1 indicates species with complete overlap in resource use……………………………..32 vii Acknowledgements