Why some tits store food and others do not: evaluation of ecological factors |
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Authors: | Zuzana ?torchová Eva Landová Daniel Frynta |
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Institution: | 1. Ecology and Ethology Research Group, Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague, Vini?ná 7, 12844, Praha 2, Czech Republic
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Abstract: | Paridae are among the bird families benefiting from food storing. However, not all its members hoard food. Our objective was
to clarify the role of ecological factors in occurrence of food storing. We reviewed the data on major ecological characteristics
of the Paridae species and analysed their association with the presence/absence of food storing. Our statistical model revealed
that geography (distribution in North America) and taxonomy (genus Poecile) are better predictors of food storing than any of the studied ecological traits. Nevertheless, food-storing Poecile species inhabit mixed or coniferous woodlands with seasonal richness of food, while non-storing species tend to prefer edge
and open habitats, where alternative food sources are available. Sociality and territoriality outside breeding season coincides
with food storing. The analysis performed within the Baeolophus–Lophophanes–Periparus–Poecile clade with ancestral food storing revealed no factor except continental climate that would explain the persistence of food
storing. The phylogenetic analysis of ancestral states of the studied characters allowed us to propose a possible scenario
for the emergence of food storing in Paridae. (1) Food storing is not ancestral in Paridae and appeared only once in the common
ancestor of the Baeolophus–Lophophanes–Periparus–Poecile group. (2) According to estimation of molecular clock in Paridae, food storing appeared before their radiation in North America. |
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