Mutualistic Mimicry and Filtering by Altitude Shape the Structure of Andean Butterfly Communities

ORCID

Dr. Ryan Hill: 0000-0001-8513-6545

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

The American Naturalist

Department

Biological Sciences

ISSN

0003-0147

Volume

183

Issue

1

DOI

10.1086/674100

First Page

26

Last Page

39

Publication Date

January 2014

Abstract

Both the abiotic environment and abiotic interactions among species contribute to shaping species assemblages. While the roles of habitat filtering and competitive interactions are clearly established, less is known about how positive interactions, whereby species benefit from the presence of one another, affect community structure. Here we assess the importance of positive interactions by studying Andean communities of butterflies that interact mutualistically via Müllerian mimicry. We show that communities at similar altitudes have a similar phylogenetic composition, confirming that filtering by altitude is an important process. We also provide evidence that species that interact mutualistically (i.e., species that share the same mimicry wing pattern) coexist at large scales more often than expected by chance. Furthermore, we detect an association between mimicry structure and altitude that is stronger than expected even when phylogeny is corrected for, indicating adaptive convergence for wing pattern and/or altitudinal range driven by mutualistic interactions. Positive interactions extend far beyond Müllerian mimicry, with many examples in plants and animals, and their role in the evolution and assembly of communities may be more pervasive than is currently appreciated. Our findings have strong implications for the evolution and resilience of community structure in a changing world.

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