Multilevel selection and neighbourhood effects from individual to metapopulation in a wild passerine.

ABSTRACT: Multilevel selection has rarely been studied in the ecological context of animal populations, in which neighbourhood effects range from competition among territorial neighbours to source-sink effects among local populations. By studying a Dupont's lark Chersophilus duponti metapopulation, we analyze neighbourhood effects mediated by song repertoires on fitness components at the individual level (life-span) and population level (growth rate). As a sexual/aggressive signal with strong effects on fitness, birdsong creates an opportunity for group selection via neighbour interactions, but may also have population-wide effects by conveying information on habitat suitability to dispersing individuals. Within populations, we found a disruptive pattern of selection at the individual level and an o

SUBMITTER: Laiolo P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3380010 | biostudies-literature | 2012

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature