species interactions during diversification and community assembly in an island radiation of shrews物种相互作用在多样化和社区组装在一个岛辐射的鼩.pdfVIP

Species Interactions during Diversification and Community Assembly in an Island Radiation of Shrews 1 2 3 Jacob A. Esselstyn *, Sean P. Maher , Rafe M. Brown 1 Biology Department, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, 2 Odum School of Ecology, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, United States of America, 3 Biodiversity Institute and Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, United States of America Abstract Background: Closely related, ecologically similar species often have adjacent distributions, suggesting competitive exclusion may contribute to the structure of some natural communities. In systems such as island archipelagos, where speciation is often tightly associated with dispersal over oceanic barriers, competitive exclusion may prevent population establishment following inter-island dispersal and subsequent cladogenesis. Methodology/Principal Findings: Using a combination of tools, we test the hypothesis that the distributions of shrew (Crocidura) species in the Philippines are the result of competitive exclusion preventing secondary invasion of occupied islands. We first compare ecological niche models between two widespread, allopatric species and find statistical support for their ecological similarity, implying that competition for habitat between these species is possible. We then examine dispersion patterns among sympatric species and find some signal for overdispersion of body size, but not for phylogenetic branch length. Finally, we simulate the process of inter-island colonization under a stochastic model of dispersal lacking ecological forces. Results are dependent on the geographic scope and colonization probability employed. However, some