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Effects of competition and predation operating at individual and population levels: an overview of results from a long-term field experiment

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Abstract

After an overview of the discussion about the existence of intra- and interspecific competition that illustrates the contradictory opinions I conclude that long-term field experiments are needed for firm conclusions. I discuss in some detail the role of two factors that limit population size of secondary cavity nesting birds e.g. territorial behavior and adequate cavities. This is followed by an overview of experimental long-term field studies in Belgium showing that intra- and interspecific competition in a great tit-blue tit system exists. By using nestbox configurations with high densities of nestboxes that differ in the diameter of their entrance hole in replicate study plots it is possible to manipulate the breeding densities of great tit Parus major and blue tit Cyanistes caeruleus independently, thereby varying the intensity of intra- and interspecific competition between these two coexisting species. When blue tit densities are experimentally increased local recruitment of great tits increases, and adult great tit post-breeding dispersal to other study plots decreases, implying that great tits use blue tit density to evaluate habitat quality and that high blue tit density results in heterospecific attraction. The reverse is not true. An experimental increase in great tit density leading to an increase in interspecific competition in a plot where blue tit density was already high leads to a decrease in blue tit nestling mass (illustrating interspecific competition for food), but to a gradual increase in blue tit body size. Both are primarily caused by an increase in the body size of immigrants (caused by intraspecific competition for protected roosting holes) in contrast to the control plot, where neither is observed. I also summarize behavioral, ecological and possible evolutionary effects of sparrowhawks on blue tits after sparrowhawks settled in an isolated study plot halfway through the study: adult survival substantially decreased for both sexes, but more for females that laid large clutches, leading to selection for females that laid a smaller clutch. This led to a change in the reproduction/survival life-history trade-off. Adult winter weights and nestling weights decreased, and the heaviest fledglings were selected against. Furthermore the frequency of polygyny increased. The long-term experiments also document the role of the use of public information and that species that compete can be attracted to sites in which competitor density is high.

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All data are availble in the SPI-Birds data hub (Culina et al 2021).

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Acknowledgements

I am very grateful to the multiple colleagues, students and other Ghent and Antwerp staff who over the years have helped with collecting, proofing, discussing and organizing the data. The work would not have been possible without repeated funding by the Belgian National Fund for Scientific Research. I am grateful to the three referees who provided extensive and critical feedback leading to extensive edits.

Funding

Given that this paper is mostly based on published sources any required permissions for work with live animals is reported in those papers. For the same reason no new funding sources were acquired to write this paper. The work would not have been possible without repeated funding by the Belgian National Fund for Scientific Research.

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  1. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University and Cornell Lab of Ornithology, 159 Sapsucker Woods Road, Ithaca, NY, 14850, USA

    André A. Dhondt

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AAD conceived and wrote the paper.

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Correspondence to André A. Dhondt.

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Communicated by Andreas Nord.

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Dhondt, A.A. Effects of competition and predation operating at individual and population levels: an overview of results from a long-term field experiment. Oecologia 203, 277–296 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-023-05448-0

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