Character Release in Bird Song: A Test of the Acoustic Competition Hypothesis Using American Tree Sparrows Spizella arborea

Naugler, Christopher; Ratcliffe, Laurene M.

doi:10.2307/3677033

Cited by 41 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…There are examples in the literature of acoustic competition among species either causing character shift (Wallin 1986;Doutrelant and Lambrechts 2001;Seddon 2005; see also Kirschel et al 2009, for an example with a non-passerine bird) or limiting song variation (Kroodsma 1985;Naugler and Ratcliffe 1994) that, if common, could shape community structure. There are also some studies that failed to find such interspecific effects (Hunter and Krebs 1979;Espmark 1999;Lohr 2008).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…More general acoustic competition from the community may also influence the optimal song phenotype of a species. For example, Bewick's wrens (Thryomanes bewickii) and American tree sparrows (Spizella arborea) have increased song variability where fewer sympatric passerine species exist (Kroodsma 1985;Naugler and Ratcliffe 1994), although this may be a consequence of other environmental factors associated with the decrease in species richness (e.g. higher local densities, Price 2008, chapter 12).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

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Community convergence in bird song

Cardoso

Price

2009

Evol Ecol

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Species in similar habitats are often similar in morphology or behaviour, attributed to adaptation to similar environmental selection pressures, sometimes mediated by competitive interactions. For passerine songs, similarity of phenotype in identical habitats and character displacement have been documented, the former due to adaptation to the acoustics of the habitat, and the latter due to competition for acoustic space among species. If these phenomena are widespread, they should lead to community convergence of bird songs. Here, we test if passerine communities in similar habitats converge in song attributes or in acoustic differentiation among species. We compared the songs of European and North American Mediterranean climate passerine communities in open and closed habitats. Song frequency varied across different habitats but not continents. This was independent of both phylogeny and body size, indicating community convergence due to acoustic adaptation, rather than species sorting or similarity as a by-product of another type of ecological convergence. We found little evidence for regular spacing in song features among species, as would be expected if acoustic competition shapes withincommunity structure. However, for one of five song components, the open habitat communities showed a similar distribution of phenotypes on each continent. The proportion of interspecific variation in song explained by these effects was small. The fact that songs are complex signals that vary in many dimensions may explain why competition for acoustic space seems to be of small importance in structuring songs in these passerine communities.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Community convergence in bird song

Cardoso

Price

2009

Evol Ecol

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“…This song remains unaltered througho~t life (Millington and Price 1985;Grant and Grant 1989;GIbbs 1990). In possessing a repertoire of only one song, these finches resemble some other emberizines in the temperate zone, including the North American Spizella passerina (Marler and Isaac 1960), S. arborea (Naugler and Ratcliffe 1994) and Zonotrichia leucophrys (Baptista 1990).…”

Section: Darwin's Finches and Their Songsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cultural Inheritance of Song and Its Role in the Evolution of Darwin's Finches

1996

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Abstract,-Songs of Darwin's finches were studied on the Galapagos Island of Daphne Major from 1976 to 1995. A single, structurally simple, and unvarying song is sung throughout life by each male of the two common species, Geospiza fortis (medium ground finch) and G. scandens (cactus finch). Songs of the two species differ strongly in quantitative features, and individual variation among males is much broader in G.fortis than in G. scandens. Although there are exceptions, songs of sons strongly resemble the songs of their fathers. They also resemble the songs of their paternal grandfathers, but not their maternal grandfathers, indicating that they are culturally inherited and not genetically inherited. Female G. fortis display a tendency to avoid mating with males that sing the same type of song as their father. They also avoid mating with males that sing heterospecific song, with very rare exceptions. Thus song, an evolving, culturally inherited trait, is an important factor in species recognition and mate choice. It constrains the mating of females to conspecifics, even when there is no genetic penalty to interbreeding, and thus may playa crucial role in species formation by promoting genetic isolation on secondary contact. The barrier is leaky in that occasional errors in song transmission result in misimprinting, which leads to a low incidence of hybridization and introgression. Introgression slows the rate of postzygotic isolation, but can produce individuals in novel genetic and morphological space that can provide the starting point of a new evolutionary trajectory.Key words.-Hybridization, imprinting, inbreeding avoidance, mate choice, speciation, species recognition.Received November 28, 1995. Accepted April 30, 1996.Bush (1993) has emphasized that complete reproductive isolation is the end point of the speciation process, not the beginning, thereby drawing attention to the period when diverging taxa are still capable of interbreeding. In birds, this potential to hybridize may remain for 20 million yr or more after divergence from a common ancestor (Prager and Wilson 1975). Indeed, a low incidence of hybridization is known to occur in approximately one in 10 species of birds (Grant and Grant 1992a). To understand the process of speciation and the consequences of introgression we need to know the nature of the barrier to gene flow in sympatry and the extent to which it is permeable. Species of Darwin's finches on the Galapagos are suitable for this purpose. Having diverged from a common ancestor approximately 3 M.Y.B.P. (Grant 1994), they are closely related, morphologically distinct, yet capable of interbreeding. Interbreeding species are similar in courtship behavior and plumage, but differ markedly in body and bill size and shape and in song. In this paper we examine the role of song as a barrier to gene exchange in sympatry.Studies of bird song over the last 40 years have provided observational and experimental evidence that species can discriminate between conspecific and heterospecific song (Marler

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“…There is also a lack of strong evidence for a role of acoustic competition. Song diversity should be negatively related to the local avian community richness (Naugler and Ratcliffe 1994). Species richness usually decreases with latitude (Gaston 2000), a pattern found in European birds (Lennon et al 2000), and in Sylviids (Cody 1978;Blondel 1995).…”

Section: Alternative Explanations To Hybridization For Song Convergencementioning

confidence: 98%

“…Similarly, the presence of other species using the same communication channel reduces signal detectability. For example, song type diversity in a Passerine Spizella arborea was negatively correlated with the number of sympatric species (Naugler and Ratcliffe 1994). Gradients in habitat structure or community richness can potentially drive signal convergence between hybridizing species.…”

Section: Environment Matchingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bilateral Song Convergence in a Passerine Hybrid Zone: Genetics Contribute in One Species Only

et al. 2011

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Hybridization can drive the convergence of territorial and sexual signals. However, non-genetic processes such as competition, environment matching, or cultural transmission, also generate this pattern. We investigated the effect of hybridization on song convergence between two interspecifically territorial warblers in a moving hybrid zone. We confirmed song convergence in each species. Using an AFLP-based genetic index, we detected an effect of genetics on song convergence in Hippolais polyglotta, the expanding species. Evidence was weaker for H. icterina, the receding species. In moving zones, introgression is expected to be larger in the expanding species than in the receding. Thus, the asymmetric contribution of the genetic index to convergence was consistent with expectations for genetically determined traits in moving hybrid zones, and the observed introgression pattern of AFLP markers. However, the geographical location of individuals had an effect on song variation too when genetics was accounted for, suggesting that convergence also has non-genetic explanations. We examine the possible role of alternative processes to that of hybridization and discuss their conflicting effects on reinforcement and hybrid zone dynamics.

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Character Release in Bird Song: A Test of the Acoustic Competition Hypothesis Using American Tree Sparrows Spizella arborea

Cited by 41 publications

References 29 publications

Community convergence in bird song

Community convergence in bird song

Cultural Inheritance of Song and Its Role in the Evolution of Darwin's Finches

Bilateral Song Convergence in a Passerine Hybrid Zone: Genetics Contribute in One Species Only

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