Species Interactions and Community Structure in Alaskan Seabird Colonies.

Whittam, Thomas S.; Siegel-Causey, Douglas

Previous studies of colonial seabirds suggest that similarities among geographically distinct seabird communities, in terms of ecologically matched species, are strong evidence for structure in these bird assemblages. We quantify species associations and community structure within five nesting guilds of Alaskan seabirds using multiway contingency tables and log-linear models. The observed species combinations differ in frequency from those expected using an independent assortment model. Simple models that adequately describe the data structure contain mostly positive two-way interactions between species. Higher order interactions, although uncommon, may suggest a type of diffuse competition. A ranked measure of resource overlap is uncorrelated with the magnitude of species interactions within guilds, but is positively correlated with deviations from independence among all species pairs.

COLONIAL birds; GEOGRAPHICAL distribution of birds; LOG-linear models; CONTINGENCY tables; COMPETITION (Biology); FORAGING behavior

Ecology, 1981, Vol 62, Issue 6, p1515

0012-9658

Academic Journal

10.2307/1941508