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The effects of climate change on the distribution of South American antbirds (Thamnophilus punctatus complex) as affected by niche divergences and contact zone interactions between species

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Abstract

Several studies have shown that climatic change has been accelerating due to human activities, leading to dramatic effects on biodiversity. Modeling studies describe how species have reacted in the past to climatic change, and this information can help us to understand the degree of biotic susceptibility to current and future climatic change. This work aims to determine the effects of past, current and future climatic changes on the geographic distribution of the species complex Thamnophilus punctatus, a bird clade widely distributed across Neotropical dry forests. We also investigate if species that are phylogenetically similar have comparable climatic niches and, consequently, can be expected to respond similarly to climatic change. For this purpose, we calculated similarity, niche overlap, equivalence and genetic distance between all species, modeling their geographic distributions during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) as well as under current conditions and future (2050–2080) scenarios. Our results indicate that there are differences in responses to climatic changes from the LGM to the present among the five species of the T. punctatus complex and that the niches in the measured dimensions are not conserved among the studied species. We therefore suggest that the adequate environmental space of taxa of a widely distributed lineage can be shaped in distinct way, regardless of how closely related their species are or how much their niches overlap. Competitive exclusion in zones of contact is an important factor determining the geographical range of the species of the Thamnophilus punctatus complex, particularly for the very closely related species T. sticturus, T. pelzelni and T. ambiguus.

Zusammenfassung

Effekte des Klimawandels auf die Verbreitung südamerikanischer Ameisenvögel ( Thamnophilus punctatus complex) unter dem Einfluss von Nischendivergenz und Kontaktzoneninteraktionen zwischen Arten

Verschiedene Studien haben gezeigt, dass der Klimawandel durch menschliche Aktivitäten beschleunigt wurde, was zu dramatischen Auswirkungen auf die Biodiversität führt. Modellierungen beschreiben, wie Arten in der Vergangenheit auf klimatische Veränderungen reagiert haben. Diese Informationen können uns helfen, den Grad der biotischen Empfindlichkeit gegenüber aktuellen und zukünftigen Klimaveränderungen zu verstehen. Diese Arbeit verfolgt das Ziel, die Auswirkungen vergangener, aktueller und zukünftiger Klimaveränderungen auf die geografische Verbreitung des Artenkomplexes Thamnophilus punctatus, eine weit verbreitete Vogelartengruppe in neotropischen Trockenwäldern, zu ermitteln. Wir untersuchten auch, ob phylogenetisch ähnliche Arten vergleichbare klimatische Nischen besetzen und somit ähnlich auf Klimaveränderungen reagieren. Zu diesem Zweck berechneten wir Ähnlichkeit, Nischenüberlappung, Äquivalenz und genetische Distanz zwischen allen Thamnophilus-Arten und modellierten ihre geografischen Verbreitungen während des letzten glazialen Maximums (LGM) sowie unter aktuellen Bedingungen und zukünftigen (2050–2080) Szenarien. Unsere Ergebnisse zeigen, dass es unterschiedliche Reaktionen auf den Klimawandel seit dem LGM bis jetzt zwischen fünf Arten des T. punctatus Komplex gibt. Die Ergebnisse zeigen auch, dass die Nischen der untersuchten Arten in den gemessenen Dimensionen nicht untereinander festgelegt sind. Wir nehmen daher an, dass ein ausreichender Umweltraum für Taxa einer weit verbreiteten Abstammungslinie in ausgeprägter Weise gestaltet werden kann, unabhängig davon, wie nah verwandt die Arten sind und wie groß ihre Nischenüberlappung ist. Kompetitiver Ausschluss in Bereichen, wo sich Vorkommen überlappen, ist ein wichtiger Faktor bei der Bestimmung des geografischen Verbreitungsgebietes der Arten des Thamnophilus punctatus Komplex, insbesondere für die sehr nah verwandten Arten T. sticturus, T. pelzelni and T. ambiguus.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the curators and curatorial assistants of the bird collection of the Louisiana State University Museum of Natural Science for allowing us to study and sequence skins and tissues under their care. During data collection and analysis, Erasmo Andrade da Silva was supported by a master`s fellowship from Fundação do Amparo a Ciência e Tecnologia do estado de Pernambuco (FACEPE,IBPG-1346-2.04-15). A.A. is supported by grants from the Swedish Research Council (B0569601), the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research, the Biodiversity and Ecosystems in a Changing Climate (BECC) programme, and a Wallenberg Academy Fellowship. Support to A.M.F’s research was provided by FACEPE (APQ-0641-2.04/18).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Federal Rural University of Pernambuco, Serra Talhada Campus, Pernambuco, Brazil

    Erasmo Andrade da Silva & Alexandre M. Fernandes

  2. Department of Biological Sciences, CCA/Federal University of Paraíba, Areia Campus, Paraíba, Brazil

    Helder Farias Pereira de Araujo

  3. Finnish Museum of Natural History, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

    Alexandre Aleixo

  4. Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Box 461, SE-405 30, Göteborg, Sweden

    Alexandre Antonelli

  5. Gothenburg Global Biodiversity Centre, Box 461, SE-405 30, Göteborg, Sweden

    Alexandre Antonelli

  6. Royal Botanical Gardens Kew, Richmond, TW9 3AE, UK

    Alexandre Antonelli

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  1. Erasmo Andrade da Silva
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  2. Helder Farias Pereira de Araujo
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  3. Alexandre Aleixo
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  4. Alexandre Antonelli
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Correspondence to Alexandre M. Fernandes.

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da Silva, E.A., de Araujo, H.F.P., Aleixo, A. et al. The effects of climate change on the distribution of South American antbirds (Thamnophilus punctatus complex) as affected by niche divergences and contact zone interactions between species. J Ornithol 161, 229–241 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-019-01721-3

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