Morphological similarity between syntopic thrushes in an urban park in southern Brazil

Abstract

Morphological overlap is an important attribute to understand processes of interspecific competition. In this sense, the objective of this study was to evaluate the degree of morphological overlap between five syntopic thrushes species (Turdus rufiventris, T. albicollis, T. leucomelas, T. amaurochalinus and T. subalaris) in an urban fragment of Araucaria Forest in Guarapuava, central-southern region of Paraná State. Birds were captured through mist-nets. Biometric measurements were performed in the birds and subsequently analyses of similarity and multivariate ordinations were also performed. The MANOVA analysis indicated separation among species F _{(24, 482)} = 17.8, P < 0.0001. However, post hoc test showed no statistical separation between T. albicollis and T. subalaris. The similarity index results indicated that the most similar species that integrate the taxocenose are T. leucomelas and T. rufiventris (0.987). Turdus subalaris and T. albicollis also showed high similarity values (0.983). Although the species are morphologically very similar, there are indications of ecological mechanisms that allow their coexistence, such as distinct patterns of occurrence and differential use of habitat.