Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-m6dg7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T17:33:40.223Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Overlap and resource sharing in coteries of fruit-eating birds

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 September 2013

Adriano Marcos da Silva  and
Celine de Melo
Adriano Marcos da Silva*
Affiliation:
Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Campus Umuarama, Bloco 2D, sala 28, Uberlândia, MG, Brazil
Celine de Melo
Affiliation:
Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Campus Umuarama, Bloco 2D, sala 28, Uberlândia, MG, Brazil
*
1Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract:

A range of species eating the same fruit suggests that niche overlap can occur, along with potential competition among them. To test if the overlap in the coterie of fruit-eating birds is larger than would be expected by chance, we performed a comparison with coteries generated from the use of null models. The study was carried out in an area of savanna woodland of 127 ha in Uberlândia city, Brazil. Four individuals of five zoochorous plant species were selected and 60 h of focal observation was performed on each species. We recorded species of birds that consumed fruits and the quantity of fruit removed. We used an index of Proportional Similarity (PS) between each pair of plant species, using the relative proportion of fruit taken by each bird species of each plant. The mean value of observed PS was compared with the mean PS generated from randomizations. Thirty-six bird species were recorded eating fruits in the selected plant species. The mean overlap observed (PS = 0.183) was significantly higher (P = 0.032) than the mean overlap generated by the null models (PS = 0.123). This pattern suggests that competition is not an important factor in the formation of the coteries and there is sharing of resources. The abundance of fruits offered, especially in the rainy season, and the relatively low number of frugivorous species may be factors explaining the low influence of interactions and therefore the overlap between coteries.

Keywords

Brazilcompetitionfrugivorous birdsfrugivoryniche overlap
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 29 , Issue 5 , September 2013 , pp. 409 - 416
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

LITERATURE CITED

BALMER, O. 2002. Species lists in ecology and conservation. Abundances matter. Conservation Biology 16:1160–1161.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
BATALHA, M. A. & MARTINS, F. R. 2004. Reproductive phenology of the cerrado plant community in Emas National Park (central Brazil). Australian Journal of Botany 52:149–161.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
BOCCHESE, R. A., OLIVEIRA, A. K. M. & LAURA, V. A. 2008. Germinação de sementes de Cecropia pachystachya Trécul (Cecropiaceae) em padrões anteriores e posteriores à passagem pelo trato digestório de aves dispersoras de sementes. Revista de Biologia e Ciências da Terra 8:19–26.Google Scholar
CARLO, T. A., AUKEMA, J. E. & MORALES, J. M. 2007. Plant–frugivore interactions as spatially explicit networks: integrating frugivore foraging with fruiting plant spatial patterns. Pp. 369–390 in Dennis, A. J., Schupp, E. W., Green, R. J. & Westcott, D. A. (eds.). Seed dispersal: theory and its application in a changing world. CABI, Wallingford.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
COLLINS, C. T. & WATSON, A. 1983. Field observations of bird predation on neotropical moths. Biotropica 15:53–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
CONNOR, E. F. & SIMBERLOFF, D. 1986. Competition, scientific methods, and null models in ecology. American Scientist 74:155–162.Google Scholar
CORLETT, R. T. 2011. How to be a frugivore (in a changing world). Acta Oecologica 37:674–681.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
FLEMING, T. H. 1979. Do tropical frugivores compete for food? American Zoologist 19:1157–1572.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
FLEMING, T. H. & KRESS, W. J. 2011. A brief history of fruits and frugivores. Acta Oecologica 37:521–530.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
FLEMING, T. H., BREITWISCH, R. & WHITESIDES, G. H. 1987. Patterns of tropical vertebrate frugivore diversity. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 18:91–109.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
FLEMING, T. H., VENABLE, D. L. & HERRERA, L. G. M. 1993. Opportunism vs. specialization: the evolution of dispersal strategies in fleshy-fruited plants. Plant Ecology 107/108:107–120.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
FOSTER, M. S. 1977. Ecological and nutritional effects of food scarcity on a tropical frugivorous bird and its fruit source. Ecology 58:73–85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
FOSTER, M. S. 1987. Feeding methods and efficiencies of selected frugivorous birds. Condor 89:566–580.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
FRANCISCO, M. R. & GALETTI, M. 2001. Frugivoria e dispersão de sementes de Rapanea lacifolia (Myrsinaceae) por aves numa área de cerrado do Estado de São Paulo, sudeste do Brasil. Ararajuba 9:13–19.Google Scholar
FRANCISCO, M. R., LUNARDI, V. O. & GALETTI, M. 2007. Bird attributes, plant characteristics, and seed dispersal of Pera glabrata (Schott, 1858), (Euphorbiaceae) in a disturbed cerrado area. Brazilian Journal of Biology 67:627–634.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
FUENTES, M. 1995. How specialized are fruit-bird interactions? Overlap of frugivore assemblages within and between plant species. Oikos 74:324–330.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
GHERARDI, F. & CIONI, A. 2004. Agonism and interference competition in freshwater decapods. Behavior 141:1297–1324.Google Scholar
GITHIRU, M., LENS, L., BENNUN, L. A. & OGOL, C. P. K. O. 2002. Effects of site and fruit size on the composition of avian frugivore assemblages in a fragmented Afrotropical forest. Oikos 96:320–330.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
GOTELLI, N. J. & GRAVES, G. R. 1996. Null models in ecology. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC. 368 pp.Google Scholar
GOTTSBERGER, G. & SILBERBAUER-GOTTSBERGER, I. 2006. Life in the Cerrado: pollination and seed dispersal. NHBS, Totnes. 383 pp.Google Scholar
GRIFFITHS, R. A. 1987. Microhabitat and seasonal niche dynamics of smooth and palmate newts, Triturus vulguris and T. helveticus, at a pond in mid-Wales. Journal of Animal Ecology 56:441–451.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
GUIX, J. C., RUIZ, X. & JOVER, L. 2001. Resource partitioning and interspecific competition among coexisting species of guans and toucans in SE Brazil. Netherlands Journal of Zoology 51:285–297.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
GWYNNE, J. A., RIDGELY, R. S., ARGEL, M. & TUDOR, G. 2010. Guia Aves do Brasil: Pantanal & Cerrado. Editora Horizonte, São Paulo. 336 pp.Google Scholar
HERRERA, C. M. 1981. Fruit variation and competition for dispersers in natural populations of Smilax aspera. Oikos 36:51–58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
HOWE, H. F. 1993. Specialized and generalized dispersal systems: where does ‘the paradigm’ stand? Vegetatio 107/108:3–13.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
HOWE, H. F. & ESTABROOK, G. F. 1977. On intraspecific competition for avian dispersers in tropical tree. American Naturalist 111:817–832.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
HOWE, H. F. & SMALLWOOD, J. 1982. Ecology of seed dispersal. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics 13:201–228.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
IZHAKI, I. & SAFRIEL, U. N. 1989. Why are there so few exclusively frugivorous birds? Experiments on fruit digestibility. Oikos 54:23–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
JORDANO, P. 1994. Spatial and temporal variation in the avian-frugivore assemblage of Prunus mahaleb: patterns and consequences. Oikos 71:479–491.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
KISSLING, W. D., BÖHNING–GAESE, K. & JETZ, W. 2009. The global distribution of frugivory in birds. Global Ecology and Biogeography 18:150–162.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
KOTTEK, M., GRIESER, J., BECK, C., RUDOLF, B. & RUBEL, F. 2006. World map of the Köppen–Geiger climate classification updated. Meteorologische Zeitschrift 15:259–263.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
LOISELLE, B. A., BLENDINGER, P. G., BLAKE, J. G. & RYDER, T. B. 2007. Ecological redundancy in seed dispersal systems: a comparison between manakins (Aves: Pipridae) in two tropical forests. Pp. 178–195 in Dennis, A. J., Schupp, E. W., Green, R. J. & Westcott, D. A. (eds.). Seed dispersal: theory and its application in a changing world. CABI, Wallingford.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
LOPES, L. E., FERNANDES, A. M. & MARINI, M. A. 2005. Diet of some Atlantic Forest birds. Ararajuba 13:95–103.Google Scholar
MACEDO, R. H. F. 2002. The avifauna: ecology, biogeography, and behavior. Pp. 242–265 in Oliveira, P. S. & Marquis, R. J. (eds.). The Cerrados of Brazil – ecology and natural history of a neotropical savanna. Columbia University Press, New York.Google Scholar
MELO, C. & OLIVEIRA, P. E. 2009. Frugivory in Lacistema hasslerianum Chodat (Lacistemaceae), a gallery forest understory treelet in Central Brazil. Brazilian Journal of Biology 63:75–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MOERMOND, T. C. & DENSLOW, J. S. 1985. Neotropical avian frugivores: patterns of behavior, morphology and nutrition, with consequences for fruit selection. Ornithological Monographs 36:865–897.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MOTTA-JUNIOR, J. C. 1990. Estrutura trófica e composição das avifaunas de três habitats terrestres na região central do estado de São Paulo. Ararajuba 1:65–71.Google Scholar
MOTTA-JUNIOR, J. C. & LOMBARDI, J. A. 1990. Aves como agentes dispersores da copaíba (Copaifera langsdorffii, Caesalpiniacae) em São Carlos, estado de São Paulo. Ararajuba 1:105–106.Google Scholar
MULLER-LANDAU, H. C. & HARDESTY, B. D. 2005. Seed dispersal of woody plants in tropical forests: concepts, examples and future directions. Pp. 267–309 in Burslem, D., Pinard, M. & Hartley, S. (eds.). Biotic interactions in the tropics: their role in the maintenance of species diversity. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
OLIVEIRA, A. P. 2009. Frutificação e frugivoria por aves em remanescente de cerrado Mato Grosso do Sul, Brasil. M.Sc. dissertation, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul.Google Scholar
OLIVEIRA, P. E. & GIBBS, P. E. 2002. Pollination and reproductive biology in cerrado plant communities. Pp. 329–347 in Oliveira, P. S. & Marquis, R. J. (eds.). The Cerrados of Brazil: ecology and natural history of a neotropical savanna. Columbia University Press, New York.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
OLIVEIRA, P. S. & MARQUIS, R. J. 2002. Introduction: development of research in the Cerrados. Pp. 1–10 in Oliveira, P. S. & Marquis, R. J. (eds.). The Cerrados of Brazil – ecology and natural history of a neotropical savanna. Columbia University Press, New York.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
PIZO, M. A. 1997. Seed dispersal and predation in two populations of Cabralea canjerana (Meliaceae) in the Atlantic Forest of Southeastern Brazil. Journal of Tropical Ecology 13:559–577.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
PIZO, M. A. & GALETTI, M. 2010. Métodos e perspectivas da frugivoria e dispersão de sementes por aves. Pp. 493–506 in Von Matter, S., Straube, F. C., Accordi, I., Piacentini, V. & Cândido, J. F. (eds.). Ornitologia e conservação: ciência aplicada, técnicas de pesquisa e levantamento. Technical Books, Rio de Janeiro.Google Scholar
PLEASANTS, J. M. 1990. Null-model tests for competitive displacement: the fallacy of not focusing on the whole community. Ecology 71:1078–1084.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
RIDGELY, R. S. & TUDOR, G. 1989. The birds of South America: the oscine passerines, Vol 1: The oscine passerines. Texas University Press, Austin. 516 pp.Google Scholar
ROSENFELD, J. S. 2002. Functional redundancy in ecology and conservation. Oikos 98:156–162.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
SCHOENER, T. W. 1974. Resource partitioning in ecological communities. Science 185:27–39.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
SCHUPP, E. W. 1993. Quantity, quality and the effectiveness of seed dispersal by animals. Vegetatio 107/108:15–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
SCHUPP, E. W., JORDANO, P. & GÓMEZ, J. M. 2010. Seed dispersal effectiveness revisited: a conceptual review. New Phytologist 188:333–353.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
SICK, H. 1997. Ornitologia Brasileira. Nova Fronteira, Rio de Janeiro. 912 pp.Google Scholar
SILVA, E. M. & ASSUNÇÃO, W. L. 2004. O clima na cidade de Uberlândia – MG. Sociedade & Natureza 16:91–107.Google Scholar
SNOW, B. K. & SNOW, D. W. 1971. The feeding ecology of tanagers and honeycreepers in Trinidad. The Auk 88:291–322.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
SNOW, D. W. 1981. Tropical frugivorous birds and their food plants: a world survey. Biotropica 13:1–14.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
TERBORGH, J. W. & DIAMOND, J. M. 1970. Niche overlap in feeding assemblages of New Guinea birds. Wilson Bulletin 82:29–52.Google Scholar
TILMAN, D. 1982. Resource competition and community structure. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ. 297 pp.Google ScholarPubMed
TOH, I., GILLESPIE, M. & LAMB, D. 1999. The role of isolated trees in facilitating tree seedling recruitment at a degraded sub-tropical rainforest site. Restoration Ecology 7:288–297.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
TOKESHI, M. 1986. Resource utilization, overlap and temporal community dynamics: a null model analysis of an epiphytic chironomid community. Journal of Animal Ecology 55:491–506.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
TRAVESET, A. 1998. Effect of seed passage through vertebrate frugivores’ guts on germination: a review. Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution and Systematics 1/2:151–190.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
TRAVESET, A., ROBERTSON, A. W. & RODRÍGUEZ-PÉREZ, J. 2007. A review on the role of endozoochory in seed germination. Pp. 78–103 in Dennis, A. J., Schupp, E. W., Green, R. J. & Westcott, D. A. (eds.). Seed dispersal: theory and its application in a changing world. CABI, Wallingford.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
WINEMILLER, K. O. & PIANKA, E. R. 1990. Organization in natural assemblages of desert lizards and tropical fishes. Ecological Monographs 60:27–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar