Overlap in avian communities produces unimodal richness peaks on Bornean mountains

Burner, Ryan C.; Styring, Alison R.; Boer, Chandradewana; Sheldon, Frederick H.

doi:10.1017/s0266467418000081

Cited by 4 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…Even when potentially competing pairs of species are not easily identified, as in Borneo's diverse and complex bird communities, diffuse competition across entire communities likely influences species ranges (Jankowski et al, ). Species richness differs among our study mountains at given elevations (Burner et al, ), likely altering competitive interactions. Our inclusion of data on many species, rather than only pair‐wise interactions, facilitated the detection of diffuse competition.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 79%

“… All models in the top 95% of model weights are shown. A separate set of models was run for two groups of species, lowland and montane, based on Burner et al (). Parameters in the full model set include mountain (Mtn), elevation (Elev), elevation 2 (Elev 2 ) and the summed minimum occupancy of members of the opposite elevational group of the same guild (Guild) and genus (Genus) at a given elevation.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“… A separate set of models was run for two groups of species, lowland and montane based on Burner et al (). Species identity was included as a random effect.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…All four gradients were surveyed from 600 m to 1,200 m using point counts spaced along transects (see Burner, Styring, Boer, & Sheldon, 2018). The two taller mountains-Mulu and Kinabalu-were additionally surveyed up to 1,800 m, and Mulu was surveyed down to 50 m as well ( Figure 2).…”

Section: Survey Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Biotic interactions help explain variation in elevational range limits of birds among Bornean mountains

Burner

Boyce

Bernasconi

et al. 2020

Journal of Biogeography

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Aim Physiological tolerances and biotic interactions along habitat gradients are thought to influence species occurrence. Distributional differences caused by such forces are particularly noticeable on tropical mountains, where high species turnover along elevational gradients occurs over relatively short distances and elevational distributions of particular species can shift among mountains. Such shifts are interpreted as evidence of the importance of spatial variation in interspecific competition and habitat or climatic gradients. To assess the relative importance of competition and compression of habitat and climatic zones in setting range limits, we examined differences in elevational ranges of forest bird species among four Bornean mountains with distinct features. Location Bornean mountains Kinabalu, Mulu, Pueh and Topap Oso. Taxon Rain forest bird communities along elevational gradients. Methods We surveyed the elevational ranges of rain forest birds on four mountains in Borneo to test which environmental variables—habitat zone compression or presence of likely competitors—best predicted differences in elevational ranges of species among mountains. For this purpose, we used two complementary tests: a comparison of elevational range limits between pairs of mountains, and linear mixed models with naïve occupancy as the response variable. Results We found that lowland species occur higher in elevation on two small mountains compared to Mt. Mulu. This result is inconsistent with the expectation that distributions of habitats are elevationally compressed on small mountains, but is consistent with the hypothesis that a reduction in competition (likely diffuse) on short mountains, which largely lack montane specialist species, allows lowland species to occur higher in elevation. The relative influence of competition changes with elevation, and the correlation between lower range limits of montane species and the distribution of their competitors was weaker than in lowland species. Main conclusions These findings provide support for the importance of biotic interactions in setting elevational range limits of tropical bird species, although abiotic gradients explain the majority of distribution patterns. Thus, models predicting range shifts under climate change scenarios must include not only climatic variables, as is currently most common, but also information on potentially resulting changes in species interactions, especially for lowland species.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 79%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“… A separate set of models was run for two groups of species, lowland and montane based on Burner et al (). Species identity was included as a random effect.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Survey Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Biotic interactions help explain variation in elevational range limits of birds among Bornean mountains

Burner

Boyce

Bernasconi

et al. 2020

Journal of Biogeography

Self Cite

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“…Finally, co‐occurrence values were calculated for all species pairs at a given elevation consisting of one lowland and one montane member of the same guild or genus (Table S3), following Burner et al (). This allowed us to test the hypothesis that lowland species are segregated from likely montane competitors relative to the null model, a potential signature of competitive exclusion.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Occupancy patterns and upper range limits of lowland Bornean birds along an elevational gradient

Burner

Styring

Rahman

et al. 2019

Journal of Biogeography

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Aim The traditional view of species’ distributions is that they are less abundant near the edges of their ranges and more abundant towards the centre. Testing this pattern is difficult because of the complexity of distributions across wide geographical areas. An alternative strategy, however, is to measure species’ distributional patterns along elevational gradients. We applied this strategy to examine whether lowland forest birds are indeed less common near their upper range limits on a Bornean mountain, and tested co‐occurrence patterns among species for potential causes of attenuation, including signatures of habitat selection and competition at the periphery of their ranges. Location Mt. Mulu, Borneo. Taxon Rain forest birds. Methods We surveyed lowland forest birds on Mt. Mulu (2,376 m), classified their elevation‐occupancy distributions using Huisman–Olff–Fresco (HOF) models, and examined co‐occurrence patterns of species pairs for signatures of shared habitat patches and interspecific competition. Results For 39 of 50 common species, occupancy was highest at sea level then gradually declined near their upper range edges, in keeping with a “rare periphery” hypothesis. With respect to habitat selection, lowland species do not appear to cluster together at sites of patchy similar habitat near their upper range limits; neither are most lowland species segregated from potential montane competitors where ranges overlap. Main conclusions High relative abundance at sea level implies that species inhabit “truncated niches” and are not currently near the limits of their fundamental niche, unless unknown critical response thresholds exist. However, indirect effects of increasing temperature predicted under climate change scenarios could still influence lower range limits of lowland species indirectly by altering habitat, precipitation regimes and competitive interactions. The lack of non‐random co‐occurrence patterns implies that patchy habitat and simple pairwise species interactions are unlikely to be responsible for upper range limits in most species; diffuse competition across diverse rain forest bird communities could still play a role.

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Community characteristics of forest understory birds along an elevational gradient in the Horn of Africa: A multi-year baseline

Kittelberger

Neate‐Clegg

Buechley

et al. 2021

Ornithological Applications

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Tropical mountains are global hotspots for birdlife. However, there is a dearth of baseline avifaunal data along elevational gradients, particularly in Africa, limiting our ability to observe and assess changes over time in tropical montane avian communities. In this study, we undertook a multi-year assessment of understory birds along a 1,750 m elevational gradient (1,430–3,186 m) in an Afrotropical moist evergreen montane forest within Ethiopia’s Bale Mountains. Analyzing 6 years of systematic bird-banding data from 5 sites, we describe the patterns of species richness, abundance, community composition, and demographic rates over space and time. We found bimodal patterns in observed and estimated species richness across the elevational gradient (peaking at 1,430 and 2,388 m), although no sites reached asymptotic species richness throughout the study. Species turnover was high across the gradient, though forested sites at mid-elevations resembled each other in species composition. We found significant variation across sites in bird abundance in some of the dietary and habitat guilds. However, we did not find any significant trends in species richness or guild abundances over time. For the majority of analyzed species, capture rates did not change over time and there were no changes in species’ mean elevations. Population growth rates, recruitment rates, and apparent survival rates averaged 1.02, 0.52, and 0.51 respectively, and there were no elevational patterns in demographic rates. This study establishes a multi-year baseline for Afrotropical birds along an elevational gradient in an under-studied international biodiversity hotspot. These data will be critical in assessing the long-term responses of tropical montane birdlife to climate change and habitat degradation.

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Overlap in avian communities produces unimodal richness peaks on Bornean mountains

Cited by 4 publications

References 41 publications

Biotic interactions help explain variation in elevational range limits of birds among Bornean mountains

Biotic interactions help explain variation in elevational range limits of birds among Bornean mountains

Occupancy patterns and upper range limits of lowland Bornean birds along an elevational gradient

Community characteristics of forest understory birds along an elevational gradient in the Horn of Africa: A multi-year baseline

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