▪ Abstract As better phylogenetic hypotheses become available for many groups of organisms, studies in community ecology can be informed by knowledge of the evolutionary relationships among coexisting species. We note three primary approaches to integrating phylogenetic information into studies of community organization: 1. examining the phylogenetic structure of community assemblages, 2. exploring the phylogenetic basis of community niche structure, and 3. adding a community context to studies of trait evolution and biogeography. We recognize a common pattern of phylogenetic conservatism in ecological character and highlight the challenges of using phylogenies of partial lineages. We also review phylogenetic approaches to three emergent properties of communities: species diversity, relative abundance distributions, and range sizes. Methodological advances in phylogenetic supertree construction, character reconstruction, null models for community assembly and character evolution, and metrics of community ...

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Phylogenies and Community Ecology

The function of bird song is closely linked to sexual selection. A fundamental question regarding the evolution of sexually selected male signals is how their honesty is maintained. The neural space required for storing a large song repertoire size has traditionally been identified as a key constraint. However, it is often forgotten that bird song is a multifaceted behaviour, and that the different characters that comprise it have specific costs. Recent research has revealed the existence of new constraints, such as social aggression or learning opportunities, which limit the expression of several song characteristics. We review the existing evidence for each of these constraints, revealing some major gaps in our knowledge of this fascinating biological system.

The honesty of bird song: multiple constraints for multiple traits

Vocal Learning in Mammals

(1992). Time Series—A Biostatistical Introduction. Technometrics: Vol. 34, No. 2, pp. 229-230.

Time Series—A Biostatistical Introduction

The study of bird song dialects was once considered the most promising approach for investigating the role of behaviour in reproductive divergence and speciation. However, after a series of studies yielding conflicting results, research in the field slowed significantly. Recent findings, on how ecological factors may lead to divergence in both song and morphology, necessitate a re-examination. We focus primarily on species with learned song, examine conflicting results in the literature and propose some potential new directions for future studies. We believe an integrative approach, including an examination of the role of ecology in divergent selection, is essential for gaining insight into the role of song in the evolution of assortative mating. Habitat-dependent selection on both song and fitness-related characteristics can lead to parallel divergence in these traits. Song may, therefore, provide females with acoustic cues to find males that are most fit for a particular habitat. In analysing the role of song learning in reproductive divergence, we focus on post-dispersal plasticity in a conceptual framework. We argue that song learning may initially constrain reproductive divergence, while in the later stages of population divergence it may promote speciation.

/pdf/bird-song-ecology-and-speciation-20rqb3eeco.pdf

Bird song, ecology and speciation

Social influences on vocal development: Social interaction and vocal development in birds

ABSTRACr.-We have demonstrated that male hummingbirds in the genus Colibri share song types. The Sparkling Violet-ear (C. coruscans) from an Ecuadorian population and Green Violetear (C. thalassinus) from populations in Costa Rica form aggregates or neighborhoods. Males of a neighborhood sing the same song type and those of distant neighborhoods have different song types. The resultant geographic variation in song, we suggest, is due to cultural drift acquired through song learning. Song sharing was determined not only by traditional, visual examination of spectrograms of song but with a relatively new, digital cross-correlation method that permits statistical treatment. The statistical procedures included cluster analysis that reflects the distribution of songs in geographic space and an evaluation for randomness of that distribution by use of the Mantel test. Received 13 May 1993, accepted 30 September 1993.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/info/4088508

Song Learning as Evidenced from Song Sharing in Two Hummingbird Species (Colibri Coruscans and C. Thalassinus)

Studies of syringeal function have historically been hampered by two difficulties, one technical and one perceptual The technical difficulty is that because the syrinx is at the base of a long trachea and because its functioning is distorted if the surrounding interclavicular airsac is ruptured, direct observation of natural syringeal function has so far proved impossible Hence, all analyses of syringeal function are based on indirect evidence Such evidence may be obtained from dissections, manipulations of extracted syrinxes, models, analyses of physiological events associated with phonation, or analyses of the sounds produced

Syringeal Structure and Avian Phonation

Digital spectrographic cross-correlation (SPCC), a technique described by Clark et al. (1987), simultaneously analyses frequency, amplitude and time components of a signal, and returns a single peak correlation coefficient. The procedure is objective and uses all the information in the spectrogram. As such, it is a candidate to replace and/or supplement visual spectrogram comparison and multivariate analysis as the technique of choice for comparing sounds. With the increasing availability of sound analysis software with built-in cross-correlation routines, the procedure is becoming readily available to biologists who may not have extensive knowledge of acoustics. This ease of access increases the potential for misapplication of the technique or misinterpretation of results. To assess the utility of SPCC and to highlight pitfalls that need to be avoided in its implementation, we performed a series of tests designed to reveal the sensitivity of the peak cross-correlation coefficient to a variety of...

Sandra L. L. Gaunt

Papers

Social influences on vocal development: Social interaction and vocal development in birds

Song Learning as Evidenced from Song Sharing in Two Hummingbird Species (Colibri Coruscans and C. Thalassinus)

Syringeal Structure and Avian Phonation

Digital spectrographic cross-correlation: tests of sensitivity

Is singing costly ?. Author's reply