title: Ecological traits influence the phylogenetic structure of bird species co-occurrences worldwide.
abstract: The extent to which species' ecological and phylogenetic relatedness shape their co-occurrence patterns at large spatial scales remains poorly understood. By quantifying phylogenetic assemblage structure within geographic ranges of >8000 bird species, we show that global co-occurrence patterns are linked - after accounting for regional effects - to key ecological traits reflecting diet, mobility, body size and climatic preference. We found that co-occurrences of carnivorous, migratory and cold-climate species are phylogenetically clustered, whereas nectarivores, herbivores, frugivores and invertebrate eaters tend to be more phylogenetically overdispersed. Preference for open or forested habitats appeared to be independent from the level of phylogenetic clustering. Our results advocate for an extension of the tropical niche conservatism hypothesis to incorporate ecological and life-history traits beyond the climatic niche. They further offer a novel species-oriented perspective on how biogeographic and evolutionary legacies interact with ecological traits to shape global patterns of species coexistence in birds.
authors.affiliation: Section for Ecoinformatics & Biodiversity, Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, DK-8000, Aarhus C, Denmark.
authors.forename: Jean-Yves
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Barnagaud
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Daniel Kissling
authors.forename: Brody
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Sandel
authors.forename: Wolf L
authors.initials: WL
authors.lastname: Eiserhardt
authors.forename: Cağan H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Sekercioğlu
authors.forename: Brian J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Enquist
authors.forename: Constantinos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tsirogiannis
authors.forename: Jens-Christian
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Svenning
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001717:Birds / Q000145:classification* / Q000502:physiology*; D002980:Climate; D017753:Ecosystem; D006702:Homing Behavior; D008954:Models, Biological; D010802:Phylogeny
keywords: Diversification; functional traits; geographical range; macroecology; phylogenetic community structure; phylogenetic fields; species coexistence