Does foraging competition drive plumage convergence in three look-alike Atlantic Forest woodpecker species?
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ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Does foraging competition drive plumage convergence in three look‑alike Atlantic Forest woodpecker species? Juan Manuel Fernández1,2 · Juan Ignacio Areta3 · Martjan Lammertink4,5 Received: 19 March 2020 / Revised: 17 June 2020 / Accepted: 10 July 2020 © Deutsche Ornithologen-Gesellschaft e.V. 2020
Abstract Explaining the co-existence of sympatric and ecologically similar species is a central goal in ecology. In woodpeckers (Picidae), co-existence is frequently accompanied by plumage convergence. A particularly striking case concerns three woodpecker species in the Atlantic Forest of South America: Robust Woodpecker (Campephilus robustus), Lineated Woodpecker (Dryocopus lineatus) and Helmeted Woodpecker (Celeus galeatus), which show a remarkable degree of plumage similarity thought to result from convergence due to interspecific social dominance mimicry (ISDM). We studied the foraging ecology and interactions of these three species in old-growth forests and selectively logged forests to test the extent to which these species differ in various aspects of their foraging ecology, and we examined whether particular foraging requirements may help explain the association of the threatened Helmeted Woodpecker with mature forests. The species selected different tree species, tree diameters, foraging heights, decay states of trees and decay states of substrates, resulting in marked niche separation among the three species. Proportionally, the Robust Woodpecker chiselled more, Helmeted Woodpecker used more probing and Lineated Woodpecker used more hammering. Helmeted Woodpecker was the only species that included bamboos as foraging substrates, and it foraged more on dead wood than Lineated or Robust Woodpeckers, but mostly on small dead branches in live trees rather than standing dead trees. Foraging requirements are not the most likely factor explaining the association of Helmeted Woodpecker with mature forests. Limited resource and substrate overlap among the three woodpecker species, lack of interspecific interactions, and rarity of the Helmeted Woodpecker do not match predictions if these species were conforming to a mimicry complex under the hypothesis of ISDM. Instead, plumage convergence may aid in interactions with third species, or impart advantages in intraspecific competition. Keywords Atlantic Forest · Campephilus robustus · Celeus galeatus · Dryocopus lineatus · Foraging ecology · Helmeted Woodpecker · Lineated Woodpecker · Logging · Mimicry · Plumage convergence · Robust Woodpecker
Communicated by J. T. Lifjeld. * Juan Manuel Fernández [email protected] 1
CICyTTP-CONICET, Diamante, Entre Ríos, Argentina
2
Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales y Agrimensura, Universidad Nacional del Nordeste, Av. Independencia 5470, CP. 3400 Corrientes, Argentina
3
Laboratorio de Ecología, Comportamiento y Sonidos Naturales, Instituto de Bio y Geociencias del Noroeste Argentino (IBIGEO-CONICET), Av. 9 de Julio 14, 4405 Rosario de Lerma, Salta, Argentina
4
Instituto de Biología Subtropical,
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