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Differences in dietary specialization, habitat use and susceptibility to human disturbance influence feeding rates and resource partitioning between two migratory Numenius curlew species (2020)
Journal Article
Li, D., Zhang, J., Liu, Y., Lloyd, H., Pagani-Núñez, E., & Zhang, Z. (2020). Differences in dietary specialization, habitat use and susceptibility to human disturbance influence feeding rates and resource partitioning between two migratory Numenius curlew species. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 245, Article 106990. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2020.106990

Migratory shorebirds select stopover sites to fuel their migration across heterogeneous coastal landscapes with abundant prey resources. Quantifying the degree of dietary specialization between closely-related species and how they partition resources... Read More about Differences in dietary specialization, habitat use and susceptibility to human disturbance influence feeding rates and resource partitioning between two migratory Numenius curlew species.

Genetic, phenotypic and ecological differentiation suggests incipient speciation in two Charadrius plovers along the Chinese coast (2019)
Journal Article
Wang, X., Que, P., Heckel, G., Hu, J., Zhang, X., Chiang, C.-Y., Zhang, N., Huang, Q., Liu, S., Martinez, J., Pagani-Núñez, E., Dingle, C., Yan Leung, Y., Székely, T., Zhang, Z., & Liu, Y. (2019). Genetic, phenotypic and ecological differentiation suggests incipient speciation in two Charadrius plovers along the Chinese coast. BMC Evolutionary Biology, 19(1), Article 135. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12862-019-1449-5

Background
Speciation with gene flow is an alternative to the nascence of new taxa in strict allopatric separation. Indeed, many taxa have parapatric distributions at present. It is often unclear if these are secondary contacts, e.g. caused by past... Read More about Genetic, phenotypic and ecological differentiation suggests incipient speciation in two Charadrius plovers along the Chinese coast.

Niches in the Anthropocene: passerine assemblages show niche expansion from natural to urban habitats (2019)
Journal Article
Pagani‐Núñez, E., Liang, D., He, C., Zhou, X., Luo, X., Liu, Y., & Goodale, E. (2019). Niches in the Anthropocene: passerine assemblages show niche expansion from natural to urban habitats. Ecography, 42(8), 1360-1369. https://doi.org/10.1111/ecog.04203

Human-mediated habitat transformation is increasingly evident around the world. Yet, how this transformation influences species’ niche width and overlap remains unclear. On the one hand, human-mediated habitat transformation promotes increased specie... Read More about Niches in the Anthropocene: passerine assemblages show niche expansion from natural to urban habitats.

Isotopic niche overlap between the invasive leiothrix and potential native competitors (2018)
Journal Article
Pagani–Núñez, E., Renom, M., Furquet, C., Rodríguez, J., Llimona, F., & Senar, J. (2018). Isotopic niche overlap between the invasive leiothrix and potential native competitors. Animal Biodiversity and Conservation, 41(2), 427-434. https://doi.org/10.32800/abc.2018.41.0427

We analysed niche overlap between the red–billed leiothrix Leiothrix lutea, a spreading exotic invasive bird, and the European robin Erithacus rubecula and the blackcap Sylvia atricapilla, similar native species, which are commonly considered as pote... Read More about Isotopic niche overlap between the invasive leiothrix and potential native competitors.

Breath rate of passerines across an urbanization gradient supports the pace‐of‐life hypothesis and suggests diet‐mediated responses to handling stress (2018)
Journal Article
Liang, D., He, C., Luo, X., Liu, Y., Goodale, E., & Pagani‐Núñez, E. (2018). Breath rate of passerines across an urbanization gradient supports the pace‐of‐life hypothesis and suggests diet‐mediated responses to handling stress. Ecology and Evolution, 8(18), 9526-9535. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.4460

The pace-of-life hypothesis predicts no impact of urbanization on stress responses. Accordingly, several studies have been inconsistent in showing differences in breath rate (BR), a proxy of acute stress responses to handling in passerines, between r... Read More about Breath rate of passerines across an urbanization gradient supports the pace‐of‐life hypothesis and suggests diet‐mediated responses to handling stress.

Age and sex differences in niche use at molt and its effect on plumage coloration characteristics in a bird (2018)
Journal Article
Pagani-Núñez, E., Barnett, C. R., & Senar, J. C. (2019). Age and sex differences in niche use at molt and its effect on plumage coloration characteristics in a bird. Current Zoology, 65(3), 251-260. https://doi.org/10.1093/cz/zoy062

Bird plumage is often very colorful and can communicate the quality of the bearer to conspecifics. These plumage-based signals of quality are composed of multiple pigments (e.g., melanin and carotenoids). Therefore, sex and age classes, which often s... Read More about Age and sex differences in niche use at molt and its effect on plumage coloration characteristics in a bird.

Incubation behaviour of a high-altitude species: the Fire-tailed Sunbird Aethopyga ignicauda (2018)
Journal Article
Liang, D., Gao, G., Pagani-Núñez, E., Pang, H., Liu, Y., Luo, X., & Robinson, S. K. (2018). Incubation behaviour of a high-altitude species: the Fire-tailed Sunbird Aethopyga ignicauda. Bird Study, 65(2), 261-265. https://doi.org/10.1080/00063657.2018.1446905

The incubation behaviour of the Fire-tailed Sunbird Aethopyga ignicauda was measured using data loggers in the Hengduan Mountains, China, to test predictions of parental trade-off theory. Overall, female sunbirds prioritized incubation rather than se... Read More about Incubation behaviour of a high-altitude species: the Fire-tailed Sunbird Aethopyga ignicauda.

Are vocal characteristics related to leadership patterns in mixed‐species bird flocks? (2018)
Journal Article
Pagani-Núñez, E., Xia, X., Beauchamp, G., He, R., Husson, J. H., Liang, D., & Goodale, E. (2018). Are vocal characteristics related to leadership patterns in mixed‐species bird flocks?. Journal of Avian Biology, 49(5), Article jav-01674. https://doi.org/10.1111/jav.01674

What structures the organization of mixed-species bird flocks, so that some ‘nuclear’ species lead the flocks, and others follow? Previous research has shown that species actively listen to each other, and that leaders are gregarious; such gregarious... Read More about Are vocal characteristics related to leadership patterns in mixed‐species bird flocks?.

Ecology of two Pittas (Pitta soror and Pitta nympha) in limestone forests of South China (2017)
Journal Article
Jiang, A., Yang, G., Pagani-Núñez, E., & Jiang, D. (2017). Ecology of two Pittas (Pitta soror and Pitta nympha) in limestone forests of South China. Journal of Natural History, 51(31-32), 1929-1941. https://doi.org/10.1080/00222933.2017.1355490

The ecology and life history of bird species inhabiting limestone forests, which are under major conservation threats, is currently poorly known. To cover this gap of knowledge, in this study we report for the first time on several aspects of the bre... Read More about Ecology of two Pittas (Pitta soror and Pitta nympha) in limestone forests of South China.

Foraging in the tropics: relationships among species’ abundances, niche asymmetries and body condition in an urban avian assemblage (2017)
Journal Article
Pagani-Núñez, E., He, C., Wu, Y. W., Peabotuwage, I., & Goodale, E. (2017). Foraging in the tropics: relationships among species’ abundances, niche asymmetries and body condition in an urban avian assemblage. Urban Ecosystems, 20(6), 1301-1310. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-017-0682-1

Two main theories attempt to explain species coexistence: the neutral theory considers all the species as equivalents so biodiversity is mainly regarded as a function of total available resources (i.e. niche expansion), while the niche theory stresse... Read More about Foraging in the tropics: relationships among species’ abundances, niche asymmetries and body condition in an urban avian assemblage.

To be so bold: boldness is repeatable and related to within individual behavioural variability in North Island robins (2017)
Journal Article
He, R., Pagani-Núñez, E., Chevallier, C., & Barnett, C. R. (2017). To be so bold: boldness is repeatable and related to within individual behavioural variability in North Island robins. Behavioural Processes, 140, 144-149. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beproc.2017.04.014

Behavioural research traditionally focusses on the mean responses of a group of individuals rather than variation in behaviour around the mean or among individuals. However, examining the variation in behaviour among and within individuals may also y... Read More about To be so bold: boldness is repeatable and related to within individual behavioural variability in North Island robins.

The diet of great tit nestlings: Comparing observation records and stable isotope analyses (2016)
Journal Article
Pagani-Núñez, E., Renom, M., Mateos-Gonzalez, F., Cotín, J., & Senar, J. C. (2017). The diet of great tit nestlings: Comparing observation records and stable isotope analyses. Basic and Applied Ecology, 18, 57-66. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.baae.2016.11.004

The diet of wild animals has been studied using many different strategies, approaches and methods in recent decades. In this regard, stable isotopes analysis (SIA) is becoming a widespread tool, but no study has yet, to our knowledge, compared diet e... Read More about The diet of great tit nestlings: Comparing observation records and stable isotope analyses.

More ornamented Great Tit Parus major fathers start feeding their offspring earlier (2016)
Journal Article
Pagani-Núñez, E., & Senar, J. C. (2016). More ornamented Great Tit Parus major fathers start feeding their offspring earlier. Ardea, 104(2), 167-176. https://doi.org/10.5253/arde.v104i2.a1

Carotenoid-based ornaments have been proposed to signal the ability to find food. The good-parent hypothesis suggests that females may rely on these carotenoid-based traits to assess male parental quality. A key question is whether the quality of the... Read More about More ornamented Great Tit Parus major fathers start feeding their offspring earlier.

The need for new categorizations of dietary specialism incorporating spatio‐temporal variability of individual diet specialization (2016)
Journal Article
Pagani‐Núñez, E., Barnett, C., Gu, H., & Goodale, E. (2016). The need for new categorizations of dietary specialism incorporating spatio‐temporal variability of individual diet specialization. Journal of Zoology, 300(1), 1-7. https://doi.org/10.1111/jzo.12364

In the last decade, an increasing body of research has addressed the extent to which different individuals within a species or population specialize in their exploitation of different food resources, which is referred to as individual diet specializa... Read More about The need for new categorizations of dietary specialism incorporating spatio‐temporal variability of individual diet specialization.

The breeding ecology of the barn swallow Hirundo rustica gutturalis in South China (2016)
Journal Article
Pagani-Núñez, E., He, C., Li, B., Li, M., He, R., Jiang, A., & Goodale, E. (2016). The breeding ecology of the barn swallow Hirundo rustica gutturalis in South China. Journal of Tropical Ecology, 32(3), 260-263. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0266467416000201

Some animal species are found in many environments and over wide distributions and may have adaptations to live in such different areas. The barn swallow Hirundo rustica is an example of a species that is able to thrive over a large geographic range... Read More about The breeding ecology of the barn swallow Hirundo rustica gutturalis in South China.

Comparing prey composition and prey size delivered to nestlings by great tits, Parus major, and blue tits, Cyanistes caeruleus, in a Mediterranean sclerophyllous mixed forest (2016)
Journal Article
Navalpotro, H., Pagani–Núñez, E., Hernández–Gómez, S., & Senar, J. (2016). Comparing prey composition and prey size delivered to nestlings by great tits, Parus major, and blue tits, Cyanistes caeruleus, in a Mediterranean sclerophyllous mixed forest. Animal Biodiversity and Conservation, 39(1), 129-139. https://doi.org/10.32800/abc.2016.39.0129

Resource partitioning is a central issue in ecology because it can establish to which point similar species can coexist in the same habitat. Great tits and blue tits have been classical model species in studies of trophic competence. However, most st... Read More about Comparing prey composition and prey size delivered to nestlings by great tits, Parus major, and blue tits, Cyanistes caeruleus, in a Mediterranean sclerophyllous mixed forest.

Metal exposure influences the melanin and carotenoid-based colorations in great tits (2015)
Journal Article
Giraudeau, M., Mateos-Gonzalez, F., Cotín, J., Pagani-Nuñez, E., Torné-Noguera, A., & Senar, J. (2015). Metal exposure influences the melanin and carotenoid-based colorations in great tits. Science of the Total Environment, 532, 512-516. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.06.021

Metals are naturally found in the environment but are also emitted through anthropogenic activities, raising some concerns about the potential deleterious effects of these elements on wildlife. The potential effects of metals on bird coloration have... Read More about Metal exposure influences the melanin and carotenoid-based colorations in great tits.

Diet specialization in a generalist population: the case of breeding great tits Parus major in the Mediterranean area (2015)
Journal Article
Pagani-Núñez, E., Valls, M., & Senar, J. (2015). Diet specialization in a generalist population: the case of breeding great tits Parus major in the Mediterranean area. Oecologia, 179(3), 629-640. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-015-3334-2

The analysis of diet specialization provides key information on how different individuals deal with similar food and habitat constraints within populations. Characterizing parental diet specialization at the moment of breeding, and the consistency of... Read More about Diet specialization in a generalist population: the case of breeding great tits Parus major in the Mediterranean area.