TY - JOUR
T1 - Co-occurrence in snake and lizard sister species is unrelated to major ecomorphological traits
AU - Shinde, A.
AU - Davies, T. J.
AU - Roll, U.
AU - Meiri, S.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 The Author(s). Journal of Zoology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Zoological Society of London.
PY - 2024/1/1
Y1 - 2024/1/1
N2 - Environmental factors and interspecific interactions, such as competition and facilitation, can shape species' geographic ranges. Here, we tested the relationship between geographic range overlap of squamate sister species, and their divergence in body size, diel activity, and microhabitat use. Competition theory predicts that sister species with similar traits will overlap less geographically than sister pairs with dissimilar traits. However, similar distributions may present similar selective pressures and favour similar adaptations, such that habitat filtering may result in species with more similar traits in sympatry. Across 1434 sister species contrasts, we found little relationship between range overlap and niche divergence. In some models, the divergence in body size and microhabitat use marginally increased with sympatry, while in other models, sympatric sisters had similar activity times. However, the low R-squared values of almost all these models lend only weak support to predictions from competition or habitat filtering theories. Sympatric sister species within the same biome showed more similar activity times than expected, lending some support to habitat filtering. Niche divergence in allopatry or sympatry, as calculated using a multi-trait dissimilarity index, did not show a phylogenetic signal, and niches of sister species from different squamate clades did not deviate significantly from the null expectation. Overall, niche divergence or convergence, across the axes we explored, is not a prerequisite for regional species co-occurrence. We suggest here that the lack of consistent support for either limiting similarity or habitat filtering may reflect that both these forces act as transient phenomena. More fine-grained analyses, in space and time, would be needed to detect their fingerprints. Thus, coexistence in the face of competition can arise due to various evolutionary and biogeographic mechanisms, acting concurrently or asynchronously.
AB - Environmental factors and interspecific interactions, such as competition and facilitation, can shape species' geographic ranges. Here, we tested the relationship between geographic range overlap of squamate sister species, and their divergence in body size, diel activity, and microhabitat use. Competition theory predicts that sister species with similar traits will overlap less geographically than sister pairs with dissimilar traits. However, similar distributions may present similar selective pressures and favour similar adaptations, such that habitat filtering may result in species with more similar traits in sympatry. Across 1434 sister species contrasts, we found little relationship between range overlap and niche divergence. In some models, the divergence in body size and microhabitat use marginally increased with sympatry, while in other models, sympatric sisters had similar activity times. However, the low R-squared values of almost all these models lend only weak support to predictions from competition or habitat filtering theories. Sympatric sister species within the same biome showed more similar activity times than expected, lending some support to habitat filtering. Niche divergence in allopatry or sympatry, as calculated using a multi-trait dissimilarity index, did not show a phylogenetic signal, and niches of sister species from different squamate clades did not deviate significantly from the null expectation. Overall, niche divergence or convergence, across the axes we explored, is not a prerequisite for regional species co-occurrence. We suggest here that the lack of consistent support for either limiting similarity or habitat filtering may reflect that both these forces act as transient phenomena. More fine-grained analyses, in space and time, would be needed to detect their fingerprints. Thus, coexistence in the face of competition can arise due to various evolutionary and biogeographic mechanisms, acting concurrently or asynchronously.
KW - competition
KW - habitat filtering
KW - lizard
KW - niche
KW - phylogenetic ecology
KW - snake
KW - species coexistence
KW - squamata
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85203960504&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1111/jzo.13216
DO - 10.1111/jzo.13216
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85203960504
SN - 0952-8369
JO - Journal of Zoology
JF - Journal of Zoology
ER -