Mechanistic analysis of interspecific competition using foraging trade-offs: implications for duck assemblages

Ecology
D Brent Gurd

Abstract

The role of interspecific competition and resource partitioning in determining the composition of species assemblages is often controversial. In many cases data on species co-occurrence or resource use (prey or habitat) have been interpreted without a clear understanding of how, or even whether, phenotypic differences constrain performance to allow resource partitioning or how these constraints and the density of resources and competitors should shape resource selection by each species. Instead, predictions have been based on assumed constraints, possibly leading to conflicting results. One such controversy involves the role of bill morphology in mediating resource partitioning among dabbling ducks (Anas spp.). To determine whether incorrect assumptions may have contributed to this controversy, I constructed mechanistic models that predict filter-feeding performance for seven species of ducks directly from bill morphology and kinetics and compared these predictions to those of earlier studies that tested the bill morphology hypothesis. The models predicted that species should share a preference for their most profitable (primary) prey while partitioning their less profitable (secondary) prey by size. Consequently, ducks should ...Continue Reading

References

Jun 1, 1991·Acta Biotheoretica·J G Kooloos, G A Zweers
Jan 13, 2006·Zoology : Analysis of Complex Systems, ZACS·D Brent Gurd
May 17, 2006·Trends in Ecology & Evolution·Brian J McGillMark Westoby
Aug 19, 2008·The American Naturalist·Vlastimil Krivan, Etienne Sirot
Sep 25, 2008·The American Naturalist·B W Robinson, D S Wilson

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Citations

Oct 1, 2019·Zoological Science·Hirotaka KomineKoichi Kaji

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