Interspecific competition promotes habitat and morphological divergence in a secondary contact zone between two hybridizing songbirds

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F00216208%3A11310%2F18%3A10383736" target="_blank" >RIV/00216208:11310/18:10383736 - isvavai.cz</a>

Alternative codes found

RIV/61989592:15310/18:73591933

Result on the web

<a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/jeb.13275" target="_blank" >https://doi.org/10.1111/jeb.13275</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jeb.13275" target="_blank" >10.1111/jeb.13275</a>

Result language

angličtina

Original language name

Interspecific competition promotes habitat and morphological divergence in a secondary contact zone between two hybridizing songbirds

Original language description

Interspecific competition is assumed to play an important role in the ecological differentiation of species and speciation. However, empirical evidence for competition&apos;s role in speciation remains surprisingly scarce. Here, we studied the role of interspecific competition in the ecological differentiation and speciation of two closely related songbird species, the Common Nightingale (Luscinia megarhynchos) and the Thrush Nightingale (Luscinialuscinia). Both species are insectivorous and ecologically very similar. They hybridize in a secondary contact zone, which is a mosaic of sites where both species co-occur (syntopy) and sites where only one species is present (allotopy). We analysed fine-scale habitat data for both species in both syntopic and allotopic sites and looked for associations between habitat use and bill morphology, which have been previously shown to be more divergent in sympatry than in allopatry. We found that the two nightingale species differ in habitat use in allotopic sites, where L.megarhynchos occurred in drier habitats and at slightly higher elevations, but not in syntopic sites. Birds from allotopic sites also showed higher interspecific divergence in relative bill size compared to birds from syntopic sites. Finally, we found an association between bill morphology and elevation. Our results are consistent with the view that interspecific competition in nightingales has resulted in partial habitat segregation in sympatry and that the habitat-specific food supply has in turn very likely led to bill size divergence. Such ecological divergence may enhance prezygotic as well as extrinsic postzygotic isolation and thus accelerate the completion of the speciation process.

Czech name

—

Czech description

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Type

J_imp - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database

CEP classification

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OECD FORD branch

10613 - Zoology

Project

Result was created during the realization of more than one project. More information in the Projects tab.

Continuities

P - Projekt vyzkumu a vyvoje financovany z verejnych zdroju (s odkazem do CEP)

Publication year

2018

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Name of the periodical

Journal of Evolutionary Biology

ISSN

1010-061X

e-ISSN

—

Volume of the periodical

31

Issue of the periodical within the volume

6

Country of publishing house

GB - UNITED KINGDOM

Number of pages

10

Pages from-to

914-923

UT code for WoS article

000434358800012

EID of the result in the Scopus database

2-s2.0-85045733056