Mutualistic Interactions Drive Ecological Niche Convergence in a Diverse Butterfly Community

Élias, Marianne; Gompert, Zachariah; Jiggins, Chris D.; Willmott, Keith R.

doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0060300

Cited by 143 publications

(234 citation statements)

References 64 publications

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“…However, variations in species assembly among localities [according to microhabitat, vegetation structure, host plant, etc. (26,27)] may generate variations in toxicity levels for certain mimicry groups, which might, in theory, increase predator avoidance on the most abundant groups if they tend to be the most toxic ones. However, because a pattern displayed by the same set of species in similar proportions can suffer drastically different levels of predation (e.g., H. n. tarapotensis and M. menophilus ssp.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Warning signals are under positive frequency-dependent selection in nature

Chouteau

Arias

Joron

2016

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

141

168

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Positive frequency-dependent selection (FDS) is a selection regime where the fitness of a phenotype increases with its frequency, and it is thought to underlie important adaptive strategies resting on signaling and communication. However, whether and how positive FDS truly operates in nature remains unknown, which hampers our understanding of signal diversity. Here, we test for positive FDS operating on the warning color patterns of chemically defended butterflies forming multiple coexisting mimicry assemblages in the Amazon. Using malleable prey models placed in localities showing differences in the relative frequencies of warningly colored prey, we demonstrate that the efficiency of a warning signal increases steadily with its local frequency in the natural community, up to a threshold where protection stabilizes. The shape of this relationship is consistent with the direct effect of the local abundance of each warning signal on the corresponding avoidance knowledge of the local predator community. This relationship, which differs from purifying selection acting on each mimetic pattern, indicates that predator knowledge, integrated over the entire community, is saturated only for the most common warning signals. In contrast, among the well-established warning signals present in local prey assemblages, most are incompletely known to local predators and enjoy incomplete protection. This incomplete predator knowledge should generate strong benefits to life history traits that enhance warning efficiency by increasing the effective frequency of prey visible to predators. Strategies such as gregariousness or niche convergence between comimics may therefore readily evolve through their effects on predator knowledge and warning efficiency.Müllerian mimicry | aposematism | warning signal | predation | butterflies F requency-dependent selection (FDS) occurs when the fitness of a phenotype depends on its frequency in the population (1). Under negative FDS, the fitness of a phenotype will decrease as its frequency increases. This supposedly common mechanism (2) maintains adaptive polymorphism and has been documented in a variety of natural systems, ranging from foraging behavior (2, 3) and pollination syndromes (4) to predator-prey (5-7) and parasite-host coevolution (8). On the other hand, positive FDS is a selection regime where the fitness of a phenotype increases with its frequency and does not readily maintain polymorphism. However, positive FDS is thought to be a mechanism central to the evolution of a large diversity of adaptive strategies. Notably, traits used in signaling and communication, where efficiency depends on local frequency, such as languages and social signals (9), flower coloration for pollinator attraction (10), and warning signals of prey unpalatability (11), should be subjected to positive FDS. However, although the principles of positive FDS may be well understood from a theoretical point of view, the extent to which it is operating in nature remains largely unknown.Warning coloration advertising ...

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Warning signals are under positive frequency-dependent selection in nature

Chouteau

Arias

Joron

2016

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

141

168

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“…Hawaiian spider assemblages are phenotypically overdispersed [70]. Niche-based processes are highly important in the assembly of mutualistic butterfly assemblages [71]. North American warblers that are closely related tend not to co-occur [72].…”

Section: Recent Advances (A) Changes In Vocabularymentioning

confidence: 99%

Advances, challenges and a developing synthesis of ecological community assembly theory

Weiher

Freund

Bunton

et al. 2011

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

536

564

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Ecological approaches to community assembly have emphasized the interplay between neutral processes, niche-based environmental filtering and niche-based species sorting in an interactive milieu. Recently, progress has been made in terms of aligning our vocabulary with conceptual advances, assessing how trait-based community functional parameters differ from neutral expectation and assessing how traits vary along environmental gradients. Experiments have confirmed the influence of these processes on assembly and have addressed the role of dispersal in shaping local assemblages. Community phylogenetics has forged common ground between ecologists and biogeographers, but it is not a proxy for trait-based approaches. Community assembly theory is in need of a comparative synthesis that addresses how the relative importance of niche and neutral processes varies among taxa, along environmental gradients, and across scales. Towards that goal, we suggest a set of traits that probably confer increasing community neutrality and regionality and review the influences of stress, disturbance and scale on the importance of niche assembly. We advocate increasing the complexity of experiments in order to assess the relative importance of multiple processes. As an example, we provide evidence that dispersal, niche processes and trait interdependencies have about equal influence on trait-based assembly in an experimental grassland.

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“…To our knowledge, flocks are only the third documented example, after plant species that share pollinators (Sargent and Ackerly 2008) and Müllerian mimicry rings in butterflies (Elias et al 2008), of a system that shows phenotypic clumping as a result of facilitative interactions. However, given the numerous taxa and contexts in which positive interactions and heterospecific associations occur (Seppänen et al 2007;, this pattern may be more prevalent than is currently known.…”

Section: Incorporating Facilitation Between Similar Species Into Commmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Similar to competition, positive interactions operate mainly at local spatial scales and can result in local community patterns that are similar or opposite to those produced by competition (Cavender-Bares et al 2009;Pausas and Verdú 2010). Positive interactions between phenotypically similar species, as observed in cases of social information exchange (Seppänen et al 2007), Müllerian mimicry rings in butterflies (Elias et al 2008), and plant species that share pollinators (Sargent and Ackerly 2008), can result in phenotypic clumping. On the other hand, facilitation between dissimilar species, such as that observed between nurse-plant species and seedlings (Valiente-Banuet and Verdú 2007) and between fly-catching and gleaning bird species in mixed-species flocks (e.g., Satischandra et al 2007), can lead to a whole-community pattern that is indistinguishable from that produced by competition.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…On the other hand, facilitation between dissimilar species, such as that observed between nurse-plant species and seedlings (Valiente-Banuet and Verdú 2007) and between fly-catching and gleaning bird species in mixed-species flocks (e.g., Satischandra et al 2007), can lead to a whole-community pattern that is indistinguishable from that produced by competition. Therefore, local community assembly must be investigated and interpreted with the use of frameworks that account for both competition and positive interactions rather than just the former, as is currently the trend (Elias et al 2008;Cavender-Bares et al 2009;Pausas and Verdú 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Positive Relationships between Association Strength and Phenotypic Similarity Characterize the Assembly of Mixed-Species Bird Flocks Worldwide

Sridhar

Srinivasan²,

Askins³

et al. 2012

The American Naturalist

102

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., et al. 2012. Positive relationships between association strength and phenotypic similarity characterize the assembly of mixed-species bird flocks worldwide. American Naturalist 180: 777-90. AuthorsHari Sridhar, Umesh Srinivasan, Robert A. Askins, Julio Cesar Canales-Delgadillo, Chao-Chieh Chen Submitted February 10, 2012; Accepted August 1, 2012; Electronically published MONTH? xx, 2012 Online enhancement: appendix. Dryad data: http://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.th198.abstract: Competition theory predicts that local communities should consist of species that are more dissimilar than expected by chance. We find a strikingly different pattern in a multicontinent data set (55 presence-absence matrixes from 24 locations) on the composition of mixed-species bird flocks, which are important subunits of local bird communities the world over. By using null models and randomization tests followed by meta-analysis, we find the association strengths of species in flocks to be strongly related to similarity in body size and foraging behavior and higher for congeneric compared with noncongeneric species pairs. Given the local spatial scales of our individual analyses, differences in the habitat preferences of species are unlikely to have caused these association patterns; the patterns observed are most likely the outcome of species interactions. Extending group-living and social-information-use theory to a heterospecific context, we discuss potential behavioral mechanisms that lead to positive interactions among similar species in flocks, as well as ways in which competition costs are reduced. Our findings highlight the need to consider positive interactions along with competition when seeking to explain community assembly.

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Mutualistic Interactions Drive Ecological Niche Convergence in a Diverse Butterfly Community

Cited by 143 publications

References 64 publications

Warning signals are under positive frequency-dependent selection in nature

Warning signals are under positive frequency-dependent selection in nature

Advances, challenges and a developing synthesis of ecological community assembly theory

Positive Relationships between Association Strength and Phenotypic Similarity Characterize the Assembly of Mixed-Species Bird Flocks Worldwide

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