{"id":11392,"date":"2016-02-02T21:47:29","date_gmt":"2016-02-03T02:47:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/?p=11392"},"modified":"2016-02-02T21:47:29","modified_gmt":"2016-02-03T02:47:29","slug":"population-ecology-of-some-warblers-of-northeastern-coniferous-forests-esa100-notable-papers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/2016\/02\/02\/population-ecology-of-some-warblers-of-northeastern-coniferous-forests-esa100-notable-papers\/","title":{"rendered":"Population Ecology of Some Warblers of Northeastern Coniferous Forests #ESA100 notable papers"},"content":{"rendered":"

During their breeding season, five sibling warbler species congregate in the evergreen woods of Vermont and Maine. Similarly small and insect-eating, Cape May (Dendorica tigrina<\/em>), myrtle (D. coronate<\/em>), black-throated green (D. virens<\/em>), blackburnian (D. fusca<\/em>) and bay-breasted (D. castanea<\/em>) warblers seem to defy the logical rule<\/a> that species which exploit the same food and habitat cannot coexist. Why does one warbler species not out-compete the rest?<\/p>\n

A classic figure from Robert MacArthur\u2019s 1958 paper in Ecology, illustrated with the five warblers he meticulously\u00a0observed for the study. Clockwise from bottom, bay-breasted (Dendroica castanea), myrtle (D. coronata), Cape May (D. tigrina), blackburnian (D. fusca), and black-throated green (D. virens) warblers. Micheal Kaspari commissioned <a href=\"http:\/\/harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu\/ghosts\/kaspari-bio\" target=\"_blank\">Deborah Kaspari<\/a> to create this <a href=\"http:\/\/faculty-staff.ou.edu\/K\/Michael.E.Kaspari-1\/Warbler.html\" target=\"_blank\">mixed media<\/a> work by and by for publication in the October 2008 issue of ESA\u2019s <em><a href=\"http:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/10.1890\/0012-9623(2008)89%5B448:KYWTOT%5D2.0.CO;2\/full?2\/full\" target=\"_blank\">Bulletin<\/a><\/em>. CC-BY-SA<\/a>

A classic figure from Robert MacArthur\u2019s 1958 paper in Ecology<\/em>, illustrated with the five warblers he meticulously\u00a0observed for the study. Clockwise from bottom, a bay-breasted (Dendroica castanea<\/em>), myrtle (D. coronata<\/em>), Cape May (D. tigrina<\/em>), blackburnian (D. fusca<\/em>), and black-throated green (D. virens<\/em>) warblers. Micheal Kaspari commissioned Deborah Kaspari<\/a> to create this mixed media<\/a> work for publication in the October 2008 issue of ESA\u2019s Bulletin<\/a><\/em>. CC-BY-SA<\/p><\/div>\n

In 1956-7, then graduate student Robert MacArthur set out into the woods to investigate the warblers\u2019 shared living and dining space and discover what factors affected the birds\u2019 relative abundances.<\/p>\n

The warblers, he observed, are particular about the arboreal latitude at which\u00a0they hunt their prey. Cape May warblers prefer\u00a0the tips of branches at the tops of spruce trees, whereas black-throated green warblers spend most if their time in\u00a0the dense branches in the middle. The species also differ in habits of motion, diligence at inspecting a tree before moving on, and predilection for grabbing insects out of the air. MacArthur\u2019s elegant 1958 report in Ecology<\/em> (which was also his doctoral dissertation for Yale) launched a brilliant, too-short career.<\/p>\n

Centennial Notable Papers<\/h3>\n

To celebrate the centennial of the society, ESA journals staff collected some of the most notable papers published in their pages\u2014which for ESA\u2019s oldest journal, Ecology<\/em>, reach back nearly 100 years, to 1920. \u201cNotable\u201d papers were selected based on number of citations (90% of the score) tempered by number of downloads (10% of the score, to bolster more recent stand-outs). The editorial staff invited short commentaries on the papers from members of the society, which they published with the paper collections.<\/p>\n

Douglas Morris<\/a>, a professor of evolutionary and conservation ecology at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario, commented MacArthur\u2019s 1958 article in Ecology<\/em><\/strong>:<\/p>\n

\"Stable<\/a>

Stable equilibrium<\/strong>. Figure 1 from R.H. MacArthur (1958) Population Ecology of Some Warblers of Northeastern Coniferous Forests. Ecology<\/em> <\/a>39(4), 599-619.<\/p><\/div>\n

Sixty years ago Robert MacArthur ventured into spruce woods in Maine and Vermont to study five species of warblers \u201c\u2026with the aim of determining the factors controlling the species\u2019 abundances and preventing all but one from being exterminated by competition.\u201d His success in doing so can be found in almost any ecology textbook. Turn to the section on competition. You will almost certainly find a version of his famous imagery on warbler feeding positions. The illustrations are, to this day, remarkable examples of niche partitioning that promotes coexistence. The study is immortalized in numerous testimonials by prominent scientists who were privileged to know and work with MacArthur. Most of those testimonials highlight the article\u2019s breadth, logic, and elimination of competing hypotheses. They praise skilled and patient natural history (determined and persistent might be more apt \u201c\u2026a large number of hours of watching result in disappointingly few seconds of worthwhile observations.\u201d). But when I contemplate this seminal paper I am drawn to figure 1. [see above right] \u201cThe necessary conditions for a stable equilibrium of two species.\u201d This prescient, understated figure represents, at least as much as the others, MacArthur\u2019s legacy.<\/p>\n

10 December 2015<\/a><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>

A black-throated green warbler<\/a> (Dendroica virens<\/em>). Credit, Dan Pancamo\u00a0<\/a>CC BY-SA.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

Centennial Notable Paper collections:<\/h4>\n