| Publication Type: | Journal Article |
| Year of Publication: | 1991 |
| Authors: | PRICE, TREVOR |
| Journal: | Journal of Animal Ecology |
| Volume: | 60 |
| Issue: | 2 |
| Date Published: | 1991 |
| ISBN Number: | 00218790 |
| Keywords: | Regulidae, Regulus, Regulus regulus |
| Abstract: | (1) Eight species of Phylloscopus warblers, and the closely related goldcrest, Regulus regulus, breed along a restricted altitudinal gradient in Kashmir, India. I studied the relationship between morphology, habitat selection, and feeding ecology for these nine species over three breeding seasons 1985-87. (2) None of the species breed over the entire altitudinal range. Many altitudinal distributions are related to the presence of specific tree species, although most species will readily forage in all trees available on their territory. Arthropod composition was similar among the habitats. (3) There are striking associations of morphology with ecology. Three orthogonal axes are used to summarize morphological variation among the species. The first principal component (PC1, essentially body size) is correlated with prey size. PC2, a shape measure relating beak size to tarsus length, is correlated with habitat occupied and mean elevation. PC3, a measure of beak width relative to its length, is correlated with feeding method. In total the morphological variation explains 95% of the measured ecological variation. (4) There are obvious adaptive explanations for the PC1 and PC3 associations, but the adaptive significance of the variation in PC2 is unclear. However, the association of PC2 with elevation is also observed within the one species which is common and widely distributed along the altitudinal gradient. (5) Differences among species in feeding method, prey size and habitat occupied are largely uncorrelated with one another. I conclude that the breeding season distribution of species among habitats may be partly a result of inherent differences in foraging abilities, but that other factors, probably including current competition, must contribute to limiting distributions. |
| URL: | http://www.jstor.org/stable/5303 |
| Short Title: | Journal of Animal Ecology |
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