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Mechanisms of reduced interspecific interference between territorial species

McEachin, Shawn; Drury, Jonathan; Anderson, Christopher; Grether, Gregory

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Authors

Shawn McEachin

Christopher Anderson

Gregory Grether



Abstract

Interspecific territoriality has complex ecological and evolutionary consequences. Species that interact aggressively often exhibit spatial or temporal shifts in activity that reduce the frequency of costly encounters. We analyzed data collected over a 13-year period on 50 populations of rubyspot damselflies (Hetaerina spp.) to examine how rates of interspecific fighting covary with fine-scale habitat partitioning and to test for agonistic character displacement in microhabitat preferences. In most sympatric species, interspecific fights occur less frequently than expected based on the species’ relative densities. Incorporating measurements of spatial segregation and species discrimination into the calculation of expected frequencies accounted for most of the reduction in interspecific fighting (subtle differences in microhabitat preferences could account for the rest). In 23 of 25 sympatric population pairs, we found multivariate differences between species in territory microhabitat (perch height, stream width, current speed, and canopy cover). As predicted by the agonistic character displacement hypothesis, sympatric species that respond more aggressively to each other in direct encounters differ more in microhabitat use and have higher levels of spatial segregation. Previous work established that species with the lowest levels of interspecific fighting have diverged in territory signals and competitor recognition through agonistic character displacement. In the other species pairs, interspecific aggression appears to be maintained as an adaptive response to reproductive interference, but interspecific fighting is still costly. We now have robust evidence that evolved shifts in microhabitat preferences also reduce the frequency of interspecific fighting.

Citation

McEachin, S., Drury, J., Anderson, C., & Grether, G. (2022). Mechanisms of reduced interspecific interference between territorial species. Behavioral Ecology, 33(1), 126-136. https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/arab115

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Sep 23, 2021
Online Publication Date Oct 11, 2021
Publication Date 2022-02
Deposit Date Sep 28, 2021
Publicly Available Date Mar 28, 2024
Journal Behavioural Ecology
Print ISSN 1045-2249
Electronic ISSN 1045-2249
Publisher Oxford University Press
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 33
Issue 1
Pages 126-136
DOI https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/arab115

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Copyright Statement
This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced version of an article accepted for publication in Behavioral Ecology following peer review. The version of record: McEachin, Shawn, Drury, Jonathan, Anderson, Christopher & Grether, Gregory (2022). Mechanisms of reduced interspecific interference between territorial species. Behavioural Ecology 33(1): 126-136 is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/arab115.




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