Aim Seasonal bird migration is one of the most fascinating global ecological phenomena. Yet, the biogeographic scenarios and climatic drivers that led single species or entire lineages to evolve seasonal migration between disjunct breeding and wintering ranges remain unclear. Based on distribution and phylogenetic data for all birds worldwide, we explored the biogeographic and climatic context of the evolutionary emergence of seasonal geographic migration in birds. Location Global. Taxon The Aves class (9,819 species). Methods We used the worldwide phylogeny of all birds, with a new backbone tree, to test the link between birds’ migration distance (short, variable, long) and strategy (resident, mixed, strict migrant) with four different metrics depicting species’ thermal niches in their breeding and wintering ranges. We also performed ancestral state reconstructions for the main migratory orders to reconstruct past events of appearance and loss of migration behaviour, and past biogeographic scenarios that led to the emergence of seasonal geographic migration. Results Migratory species generally experience warmer climates in their wintering range compared to their breeding one, although notable exceptions exist. This thermal niche change due to migration was found to be much larger for species travelling large distances. We also found that geographic migration emerged at different time periods through varied biogeographic paths (i.e. both from temperate and tropical ancestors) and that migration behaviour was likely ancestral to Passeriformes, with several subsequent episodes of loss of migration behaviour. Main conclusions We report an evolutionary correlation between long‐distance migration and the tendency of birds to seek warmer climates during their non‐breeding period, compared to short‐distance migrants. Migration behaviour was likely ancestral to Passeriformes, and migratory lineages in general seem to have often adapted to novel ecological opportunities by returning to a resident state. Our results provide the first large‐scale study of biogeographic and climatic origins of bird migration worldwide.

The genetic variance-covariance matrix (G-matrix) summarizes the genetic architecture of multiple traits. It has a central role in the understanding of phenotypic divergence and the quantification of the evolutionary potential of populations. Laboratory experiments have shown that G-matrices can vary rapidly under divergent selective pressures. However, due to the demanding nature of G-matrix estimation and comparison in wild populations, the extent of its spatial variability remains largely unknown. In this study, we investigate spatial variation in Gmatrices for morphological and life-history traits using long-term data sets from one continental and three island populations of Blue tit (Cyanistes caeruleus), which have experienced contrasting population history and selective environment. We found no evidence for differences in G-matrices among populations. Interestingly, the phenotypic variance-covariance matrices (P) were divergent across populations, suggesting that using P as a substitute for G may be inadequate. These analyses also provide the first evidence in wild populations for additive genetic variation in the incubation period (i.e. the period between last egg laid and hatching) in all four populations. Altogether, our results suggest that G-matrices may be stable across populations inhabiting contrasted environments therefore challenging the results of previous simulation studies and laboratory experiments.

a global database for metacommunity ecology, integrating species, traits, environment and space alienor Jeliazkov et al. #the use of functional information in the form of species traits plays an important role in explaining biodiversity patterns and responses to environmental changes. although relationships between species composition, their traits, and the environment have been extensively studied on a case-by-case basis, results are variable, and it remains unclear how generalizable these relationships are across ecosystems, taxa and spatial scales. to address this gap, we collated 80 datasets from trait-based studies into a global database for metaCommunity Ecology: Species, Traits, Environment and Space; "CEStES". Each dataset includes four matrices: species community abundances or presences/absences across multiple sites, species trait information, environmental variables and spatial coordinates of the sampling sites. the CEStES database is a live database: it will be maintained and expanded in the future as new datasets become available. By its harmonized structure, and the diversity of ecosystem types, taxonomic groups, and spatial scales it covers, the CEStES database provides an important opportunity for synthetic trait-based research in community ecology. Background & SummaryA major challenge in ecology is to understand the processes underlying community assembly and biodiversity patterns across space 1,2 . Over the three last decades, trait-based research, by taking up this challenge, has drawn increasing interest 3 , in particular with the aim of predicting biodiversity response to environment. In community ecology, it has been equated to the 'Holy Grail' that would allow ecologists to approach the potential processes underlying metacommunity patterns 4-7 . In macroecology, it is common to study biodiversity variation through its taxonomic and functional facets along gradients of environmental drivers 8-10 . In biodiversity-ecosystem functioning research, trait-based diversity measures complement taxonomic ones to predict ecosystem functions 11 offering early-warning signs of ecosystem perturbation 12 .The topic of Trait-Environment Relationships (TER) has been extensively studied across the globe and across the tree of life. However, each study deals with a specific system, taxonomic group, and geographic region and uses different methods to assess the relationship between species traits and the environment. As a consequence, we do not know how generalizable apparent relationships are, nor how they vary across ecosystems, realms, and taxonomic groups. In addition, while there is an emerging synthesis about the role of traits for terrestrial plant communities 13,14 , we know much less about other groups and ecosystem types.To address these gaps, we introduce the CESTES database -a global database for metaCommunity Ecology: Species, Traits, Environment and Space. This database assembles 80 datasets from studies that analysed empirical multivariate trait-environment relationships between 1996 (the first...

Early-life conditions can have long-lasting effects and organisms that experience a poor start in life are often expected to age at a faster rate. Alternatively, individuals raised in high-quality environments can overinvest in early-reproduction resulting in rapid ageing. Here we use a long-term experimental manipulation of early-life conditions in a natural population of collared flycatchers (Ficedula albicollis), to show that females raised in a low-competition environment (artificially reduced broods) have higher early-life reproduction but lower late-life reproduction than females raised in high-competition environment (artificially increased broods). Reproductive success of high-competition females peaked in late-life, when low-competition females were already in steep reproductive decline and suffered from a higher mortality rate. Our results demonstrate that 'silver-spoon' natal conditions increase female early-life performance at the cost of faster reproductive ageing and increased late-life mortality. These findings demonstrate experimentally that natal environment shapes individual variation in reproductive and actuarial ageing in nature.

Although senescence has been described for various fitness components in a wide range of animal species, few studies have studied senescence in long‐lived species, and little is known about its interactions with varying environmental conditions. Using a 32 year capture–mark–recapture dataset on the griffon vulture Gyps fulvus, we examined the demographic patterns of actuarial senescence and the patterns of year‐to‐year variation in survival rates. We found a significant, surprisingly late, decrease of annual survival probabilities from the age of 28 years onward and divided individual lifetimes into to three categories (juvenile, mid‐age and senescent birds). In agreement with the environmental canalization hypothesis, our analyses uncovered 1) higher temporal variation of annual survival probabilities in both the juvenile and senescent age classes compared to the mid‐age class and 2) low sensitivity of the population growth rate to the survival of both the juvenile and senescent age classes. Our results further suggested that the temporal variation in the survival of senescent birds might be related to intra‐annual changes in air temperature amplitudes. Finally, using population dynamics modeling, we revealed contrasting effects of the inclusion of the senescent age class on predicted population growth, depending on how survival rates were modeled. Altogether, our results demonstrate the existence of a class of senescent birds that exhibit distinct demographic properties compared to juvenile and mid‐age classes.

Despite recent acknowledgement that senescence can have negative impact on survival and fertility in natural environments across a wide range of animal species, we still do not know if it can reduce the viability of wild endangered populations. Focusing on actuarial senescence (i.e., the decline of survival probabilities at old ages), we use species-specific demographic information to project the extinction risk of wild populations of 58 species of mammals, accounting (or not) for senescence. Our projections reveal potential negative effects of aging on population viability, with an average decrease of 27% of the time to extinction and a potential deterioration of the population-level projected conservation status in 10% of the species. Senescence is associated with particularly strong increases of the extinction risk in species with low mortality rates and long intervals between litters, independently of their place in the phylogeny, indicating that the pace of life history can be used to forecast the detrimental effects of aging on the viability of species. The aim of the various existing systems of classification of threatened species is to set conservation priorities based on assessments of extinction risk. Our results indicate that the quantitative effects of senescence on extinction are highly heterogeneous, which can affect the ranking of species and populations when setting conservation, priorities. In mammals, based on life history traits of a few species, generic patterns of senescence can be incorporated into projection population models to minimize these biases in viability assessments.

Genetic correlations between traits can strongly impact evolutionary responses to selection, and may thus impose constraints on adaptation. Theoretical and empirical work has made it clear that without strong linkage and with random mating, genetic correlations at evolutionary equilibrium result from an interplay of correlated pleiotropic effects of mutations, and correlational selection favoring combinations of trait values. However, it is not entirely clear how change in the overall strength of stabilizing selection across traits (breadth of the fitness peak, given its shape) influences this compromise between mutation and selection effects on genetic correlation. Here, we show that the answer to this question crucially depends on the intensity of genetic drift. In large, effectively infinite populations, genetic correlations are unaffected by the strength of selection, regardless of whether the genetic architecture involves common small-effect mutations (Gaussian regime), or rare large-effect mutations (House-of-Cards regime). In contrast in finite populations, the strength of selection does affect genetic correlations, by shifting the balance from drift-dominated to selection-dominated evolutionary dynamics. The transition between these domains depends on mutation parameters to some extent, but with a similar dependence of genetic correlation on the strength of selection. Our results are particularly relevant for understanding how senescence shapes patterns of genetic correlations across ages, and genetic constraints on adaptation during colonization of novel habitats.

Genetic correlations between traits can strongly impact evolutionary responses to selection, and may thus impose constraints on adaptation. Theoretical and empirical work has made it clear that, without strong linkage, genetic correlations at evolutionary equilibrium result from an interplay of correlated pleiotropic effects of mutations, and correlational selection favoring combinations of trait values. However, it is not entirely clear how the strength of stabilizing selection influences this compromise between mutation and selection effects on genetic correlations. Here, we show that the answer to this question crucially depends on the intensity of genetic drift. In large, effectively infinite populations, genetic correlations are unaffected by the strength of selection, regardless of whether the genetic architecture involves common small-effect mutations (Gaussian regime), or rare large-effect mutations (House-of-Cards regime). In contrast in finite populations, the strength of selection does affect genetic correlations, by shifting the balance from drift-dominated to selection-dominated evolutionary dynamics. The transition between these domains depends on mutation parameters to some extent, but with a similar dependence of genetic correlation on the strength of selection. Our results are particularly relevant for understanding how senescence shapes patterns of genetic correlations across ages, and genetic constraints on adaptation during colonization of novel habitats.