Hummingbird community structure and nectar resources modulate the response of interspecific competition to forest conversion.

ABSTRACT: On-going land-use change has profound impacts on biodiversity by filtering species that cannot survive in disturbed landscapes and potentially altering biotic interactions. In particular, how land-use change reshapes biotic interactions remains an open question. Here, we used selectivity experiments with nectar feeders in natural and converted forests to test the direct and indirect effects of land-use change on resource competition in Andean hummingbirds along an elevational gradient. Selectivity was defined as the time hummingbirds spent at high resource feeders when feeders with both low and high resource values were offered in the presence of other hummingbird species. Selectivity approximates the outcome of interspecific competition (i.e., the resource intake across competing species)

SUBMITTER: Guevara EA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10038955 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature