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

作　　者：Liping Zhou Christos Mammides Youfang Chen Wenyi Zhou Wenzhang Dai Edward L.Braun Rebecca T.Kimball Yang Liu Scott K.Robinson Eben Goodale 

机构地区：[1]Guangxi Key Laboratory of Forest Ecology and Conservation,College of Forestry,Guangxi University,Nanning 530004,China [2]Kunming Natural History Museum of Zoology,Kunming Institute of Zoology,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Kunming 650223,China [3]Nature Conservation Unit,Frederick University,7,Yianni Frederickou Street,Pallouriotissa,Nicosia 1036,Cyprus [4]State Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change,Institute of Botany,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Beijing 100093,China [5]Florida Museum of Natural History,University of Florida,Gainesville,FL 34201,USA [6]Department of Biology,University of Florida,Gainesville,FL 34201,USA [7]School of Life Science and Institute of Wetland Ecology,Nanjing University,Nanjing 210000,China [8]State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol,School of Ecology,Sun-Yatsen University,Guangzhou 510275,China [9]Department of Health and Environmental Science,Xi'an Jiaotong Liverpool University,Suzhou 215123,China

出　　处：《Current Zoology》2024年第1期34-44,共11页动物学报（英文版）

基　　金：funded by postdoctoral funding to LZ from Guangxi University(A3360051014,A3360051010);from the Guangxi Key Laboratory of Forest Ecology and Conservation(AE33600102).

摘　　要：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 nonbreeding season of 2020 and 2021,we sampled 585 MSFs on 14 transects in 2 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 4 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 furtherstudy.

关 键 词：co-evolution interaction networks mixed-species animal groups phenotypic similarity trait convergence 

分 类 号：Q95[生物学—动物学]