Tracing the early steps of competition-driven eco-morphological divergence in two sister species of passerines

Abstract

Competition-driven feeding niche separation is assumed to be an important driver of the morphological divergence of co-occurring animal species. However, despite a strong theoretical background, empirical studies showing a direct link between competition, diet divergence and specific morphological adaptations are still scarce. Here we studied the early steps of competition-driven eco-morphological divergence in two closely related passerines: the common nightingale (Luscinia megarhynchos) and the thrush nightingale (Luscinia luscinia). Our aim was to test whether previously-observed divergence in bill morphology and habitat in sympatric populations of both species is associated with dietary niche divergence. We collected and analysed data on (1) diet, using both DNA metabarcoding and visual identification of prey items, (2) habitat use, and (3) bill morphology in sympatric populations of both nightingale species. We tested whether the species differ in diet composition and whether there are any associations among diet, bill morphology and habitat use. We found that the two nightingale species have partitioned their feeding niches, and showed that differences in diet may be partially associated with the divergence in bill length in sympatric populations. We also observed an association between bill length and habitat use, suggesting that competition-driven habitat segregation could be linked with dietary and bill size divergence. Our results suggest that interspecific competition is an important driver of species’ eco-morphological divergence after their secondary contact, and provide insight into the early steps of such divergence in two closely related passerine species. Such divergence may facilitate species coexistence and strengthen reproductive isolation between species, and thus help to complete the speciation process.