TY - JOUR
T1 - Interspecific sociality alters the colonization and extinction rates of birds on subtropical reservoir islands
AU - Martínez, Ari E.
AU - Si, Xingfeng
AU - Zhou, Liping
AU - Zeng, Di
AU - Ding, Ping
AU - Goodale, Eben
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.
PY - 2023/6/5
Y1 - 2023/6/5
N2 - Island biogeography theory has proved a robust approach to predicting island biodiversity on the assumption of species equivalency. However, species differ in their grouping behaviour and are entangled by complex interactions in island communities, such as competition and mutualism. We here investigated whether intra- and/or interspecific sociality may influence biogeographic patterns, by affecting movement between islands or persistence on them. We classified bird species in a subtropical reservoir island system into subcommunities based on their propensity to join monospecific and mixed-species flocks. We found that subcommunities which had high propensity to flock interspecifically had higher colonization rates and lower extinction rates over a 10-year period. Intraspecific sociality increased colonization in the same analysis. A phylogenetically corrected analysis confirmed the importance of interspecific sociality, but not intraspecific sociality. Group-living could enable higher risk crossings, with greater vigilance also linked to higher foraging efficiency, enabling colonization or long-term persistence on islands. Further, if group members are other species, competition can be minimized. Future studies should investigate different kinds of island systems, considering positive species interactions driven by social behaviour as potential drivers of community assembly on islands. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Mixed-species groups and aggregations: shaping ecological and behavioural patterns and processes’.
AB - Island biogeography theory has proved a robust approach to predicting island biodiversity on the assumption of species equivalency. However, species differ in their grouping behaviour and are entangled by complex interactions in island communities, such as competition and mutualism. We here investigated whether intra- and/or interspecific sociality may influence biogeographic patterns, by affecting movement between islands or persistence on them. We classified bird species in a subtropical reservoir island system into subcommunities based on their propensity to join monospecific and mixed-species flocks. We found that subcommunities which had high propensity to flock interspecifically had higher colonization rates and lower extinction rates over a 10-year period. Intraspecific sociality increased colonization in the same analysis. A phylogenetically corrected analysis confirmed the importance of interspecific sociality, but not intraspecific sociality. Group-living could enable higher risk crossings, with greater vigilance also linked to higher foraging efficiency, enabling colonization or long-term persistence on islands. Further, if group members are other species, competition can be minimized. Future studies should investigate different kinds of island systems, considering positive species interactions driven by social behaviour as potential drivers of community assembly on islands. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Mixed-species groups and aggregations: shaping ecological and behavioural patterns and processes’.
KW - animal sociality
KW - community assembly
KW - facilitation
KW - metacommunities
KW - mixed-species animal groups
KW - priority effects
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85152628879&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1098/rstb.2022.0096
DO - 10.1098/rstb.2022.0096
M3 - Article
C2 - 37066642
AN - SCOPUS:85152628879
SN - 0962-8436
VL - 378
JO - Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
JF - Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
IS - 1878
M1 - 20220096
ER -