Disentangling abiotic and biotic mechanisms behind the formation of heterospecific Nearctic-Neotropical shorebird flocks

Cestári, César; Gonçalves, Cristina da Silva; Melo, Celine de

doi:10.1007/s10682-020-10079-5

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 80 publications

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“…Beaches were flat and 87 AE 9 m wide during low tide. They had compact and moist sand on where the tide reached and soft, dry sand (approximately 10 m) out of reach of the tide (Cestari et al 2020). Climate is rainy tropical with a regional average annual temperature of 21°C AE 3°C, rainfall above 2000 mm/year and relative humidity over 70% (K€ oppen 1948(K€ oppen , Tarifa 2004).…”

Section: Study Area and Speciesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Shorebirds adjust resting orientation in response to solar radiation and wind speed

Cestári

Melo

2022

Austral Ecology

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Animals may signal behavioural responses to climate stressors. To date, there has been no study investigating the altered behaviour of birds due to the synergetic effects of wind, solar radiation and ambient temperature in natural environments. We analysed the body orientation of three close‐related Charadriiformes species with different body masses in response to wind speed, wind direction, sun position and ambient temperature on beaches in south‐eastern Brazil. We expected these birds to adjust their postures according to the intensity of climate stressors and their different body masses. We found that regardless of body mass, resting birds faced the wind according to its speed and reduced their surface area exposed to airflow. They also exhibited a perpendicular orientation to the sun in lower ambient temperatures, which correlated with higher wind speeds. The behavioural adjustments of resting birds to concomitant climate stressors may prevent body destabilization and promote thermoregulation and energy savings.

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Section: Study Area and Speciesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Shorebirds adjust resting orientation in response to solar radiation and wind speed

Cestári

Melo

2022

Austral Ecology

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“…However, if competition were the major factor structuring these communities, we would expect co-occurring species to be dissimilar in their traits ( Webb et al 2002 ), but that does not seem to be the general finding. Rather, species in MSFs have been found to be more similar to each other than expected in diet and size ( Sridhar et al 2012 ; Mammides et al 2018 ; Cestari et al 2020 ) and evolutionary history ( Gómez et al 2010 ; Péron 2017 ; Mammides et al 2018 ; Zhang et al 2020 ). Species are even more similar in their foraging niche than would be randomly expected, although they may forage on different substrates ( Jones et al 2020 ).…”

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High association strengths are linked to phenotypic similarity, including plumage color and patterns, of participants in mixed-species bird flocks of southwestern China

et al. 2022

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Participants in mixed-species bird flocks (MSFs) have been shown to associate with species that are similar in body size, diet, and evolutionary history, suggesting that facilitation structures these assemblages. In addition, several studies have suggested that species in MSFs resemble each other in their plumage, but this question has not been systematically investigated for any MSF system. During the non-breeding season of 2020 and 2021, we sampled 585 MSFs on 14 transects in two habitats of Tongbiguang Nature Reserve in western Yunnan Province, China. We performed social network analysis and the Multiple Regression Quadratic Assignment Procedure to evaluate the effect of four species traits (body size, overall plumage color, distinctive plumage patterns, and diet) and evolutionary history on species association strength at the whole-MSF and within-MSF levels. All 41 significant relationships showed that species with stronger associations were more similar in their various traits. Body size had the strongest effect on association strength, followed by phylogeny, plumage patterns, and plumage color; diet had the weakest effect. Our results are consistent with the hypotheses that the benefits of associating with phenotypically similar species outweigh the potential costs of interspecific competition, and that trait matching can occur in plumage characteristics, albeit more weakly than in other traits. Several explanations exist as to why similarities in plumage may occur in MSFs, including that they could reduce predators’ ability to target phenotypically ‘odd’ individuals. Whether trait matching in plumage occurs through assortative processes in ecological time or is influenced by co-evolution requires further study.

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Abundance and Behavior of Migratory Birds in a Mangrove and Salt Marsh Ecosystem in Guyana, South America

2023

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Disentangling abiotic and biotic mechanisms behind the formation of heterospecific Nearctic-Neotropical shorebird flocks

Cited by 3 publications

References 80 publications

Shorebirds adjust resting orientation in response to solar radiation and wind speed

Shorebirds adjust resting orientation in response to solar radiation and wind speed

High association strengths are linked to phenotypic similarity, including plumage color and patterns, of participants in mixed-species bird flocks of southwestern China

Abundance and Behavior of Migratory Birds in a Mangrove and Salt Marsh Ecosystem in Guyana, South America

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