Evolution 2017: Integrating Ecological, Antagonistic and Reproductive Character Displacement

The arrival of an outsider that overlaps in resource use and habitat with local species can lead to intense competition between the two. A result of this competition can be character displacement, where traits of the species (one or both) change in sympatric populations (where the co-occur), but not in allopatric populations. Claire Dufour (Post-Doctoral researcher at Harvard University) presented her work on character displacement for two anole species on the island of Dominica: the native Anolis oculatus and the introduced Anolis cristatellus. Her objective was to integrate ecological, antagonistic and reproductive character displacement. Specifically, she tested whether competition between these new island-mates leads to changes in habitat use, morphology, and display behavior.

Location of populations of the introduced A. cristatellus with the sampled area, Calibishie inset

Claire compared allopatric populations of the two species with sympatric populations in the northern area of the island in Calibishie, where Anolis cristatellus has been present for two years. She found that in sympatry, both morphological and behavioral shifts have occurred. In sympatry, Anolis oculatus perched higher and had shorter limbs. She also found differences in display behavior, which she tested with an anole robot programmed to dewlap and do push-ups. This experiment showed that in sympatry, Anolis cristatellus dewlapped less, but Anolis oculatus does not alter its display behavior. Future work will test for reproductive character displacement and contrast populations where Anolis cristatellus has been present for a longer time span.