Genetic relatedness and morphology as drivers of interspecific dominance hierarchy in hummingbirds.

ABSTRACT: A dominance hierarchy is the set of ranks occupied by species within an assemblage. Species with a high position within the dominance hierarchy tend to dominate subordinate species in contests for access to resources. In hummingbirds, greater weight and wing disc loading have been associated with highest ranks within the dominance hierarchy. Nevertheless, the limit to which the difference between the weight of contending species represents a competitive advantage has not yet been determined. Here, we determined the dominance hierarchy of a hummingbird assemblage exploiting the most abundant floral resource (Palicourea padifolia, Rubiaceae) in a cloud forest of central Veracruz, Mexico. Specifically, we tested whether species weight and wing disc loading influence the dominance hiera

SUBMITTER: Marquez-Luna U 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9034699 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature