Mutualistic interactions drive ecological niche convergence in a diverse butterfly community.

ABSTRACT: Ecological communities are structured in part by evolutionary interactions among their members. A number of recent studies incorporating phylogenetics into community ecology have upheld the paradigm that competition drives ecological divergence among species of the same guild. However, the role of other interspecific interactions, in particular positive interactions such as mutualism, remains poorly explored. We characterized the ecological niche and inferred phylogenetic relationships among members of a diverse community of neotropical Müllerian mimetic butterflies. Müllerian mimicry is one of the best studied examples of mutualism, in which unpalatable species converge in wing pattern locally to advertize their toxicity to predators. We provide evidence that mutualistic interactions can

SUBMITTER: Elias M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2592358 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature