The role of competition in structuring tropical bird communities

Despite several decades of intense scrutiny, the role of competition as a force structuring ecological communities remains controversial. Here we summarize a symposium focused on examining the effect of interspecific competition on the distribution and abundance of bird species in tropical ecosystems, where biotic interactions are likely to be most intense because of high diversity in stable environments. We outline a series of independent studies, each tackling long-standing questions by utilizing or combining modern techniques and resources that were largely unavailable in previous decades. These include long-term datasets tracking changes in abundance and behavior, experimental tests of behaviorally-mediated segregation, application of intensive territory mapping, stable isotopes, and remotely sensed data to measure habitat niches, and community phylogenetic methods for assessing patterns of coexistence within larger clades. Collectively, these approaches offer rich potential for evaluating the strength of competition between interacting species and clarifying its effect on the structure of communities at local and regional scales.