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Competitive Displacement and Agonistic Character Displacement, or the Ghost of Interference Competition
The American Naturalist
|February 15, 2024
Summary
Interference competition drives rubyspot damselfly species apart in habitat use. Removal experiments showed that species-specific microhabitat use persisted, suggesting evolutionary divergence rather than current competitive displacement.
Area of Science:
- Ecology
- Evolutionary Biology
- Behavioral Ecology
Background:
- Interference competition can lead to species diverging in habitat use through competitive displacement or agonistic character displacement (ACD).
- In rubyspot damselflies (Hetaerina spp.), increased aggression between sympatric species correlates with greater microhabitat partitioning, as predicted by ACD theory.
Purpose of the Study:
- To distinguish between competitive displacement and agonistic character displacement as drivers of microhabitat partitioning in rubyspot damselflies.
- To assess the role of interference competition in shaping species' habitat use.
Main Methods:
- Conducted removal experiments with three pairs of sympatric rubyspot damselfly species.
- Monitored microhabitat use of subordinate species following the removal of dominant species.
Main Results:
- Microhabitat partitioning between species remained consistent even after the experimental removal of dominant individuals.
- This persistence indicates that subordinate species did not shift into the microhabitats previously occupied by dominant species.
Conclusions:
- The observed association between interspecific aggression and microhabitat partitioning in Hetaerina is likely a result of evolutionary divergence in habitat preferences.
- This divergence is driven by interference competition acting over evolutionary timescales, rather than ongoing competitive exclusion.
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