Cross-fostering reveals seasonal changes in the relative fitness of two competing species of flycatchers

Spatial and temporal heterogeneity in relative fitness of competing species is a key factor affecting the structure of communities. However, it is not intuitive why species that are ecologically similar should differ in their response to environmental changes. Here we show that two sympatric flycatchers differ in reproductive strategy and in sensitivity to harsh environment. The fitness of collared flycatchers (Ficedula albicollis), which are dominant in interference competition, is more sensitive than the fitness of pied flycatchers (Ficedula hypoleuca) to the seasonal decline in environmental conditions. In order to control for the possibility that this pattern arises solely from differences in microhabitat use (i.e. a local niche differentiation), we performed a partial cross-fostering experiment of young between the two species (i.e. resulting in nests containing young of both species). Our results show that the growth of nestling pied flycatchers is less influenced by the seasonal decline in environmental conditions. We suggest that a life-history trade-off between interference competitive ability and robustness to harsh environment promotes a regional coexistence of the two species.