Phenotypic Variation of Larks Along an Aridity Gradient: Are Desert Birds More Flexible?

Tieleman, B. Irene; Williams, Joseph B.; Buschur, Michael E.; Brown, Chris

doi:10.1890/0012-9658(2003)084[1800:pvolaa]2.0.co;2

Cited by 138 publications

(146 citation statements)

References 41 publications

(40 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

135

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…This is in line with adjustments of basal MR in birds to hot environments. Differences in basal MR between populations from different regions could be explained by genetically based differences in the response to the same environmental gradient (Tieleman et al 2003). Thus, basal MR appears to be a plastic character, because foster birds from the southern population strongly react to changes in the environment.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Local Adaptation to Winter Conditions in a Passerine Spreading North: A Common-Garden Approach

et al. 2005

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. Sedentary passerine birds living in temperate and boreal regions need a high metabolic capacity for thermogenesis to survive winter conditions. As a consequence of the increased thermogenic capacity, basal energetic demands rise at a time when resources and time to acquire them decrease. In a previous study, great tits (Parus major) from two localities in Fennoscandia with contrasting winter conditions differed in their metabolic response to ambient temperature. To investigate the physiological basis underlying interpopulation differences we performed a commongarden experiment to test whether these differences were genetically based. We found basal metabolic rate to be higher in birds originating from transferred eggs from the southern population compared to the ones from the northern population, contrary to the relationship among birds living in their region of origin. Despite previous evidence suggesting that gene flow prevents local adaptation at the northern range limits of a species expanding northward, we found that great tits differ in their reaction norm to winter conditions according to the population of origin.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Local Adaptation to Winter Conditions in a Passerine Spreading North: A Common-Garden Approach

et al. 2005

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Studies within species have shown correlations between BMR and masses of central organs (Brzek et al, 2007;Chappell et al, 1999;Even et al, 2001;Piersma et al, 1996), but other studies have failed to find correlations between BMR and sizes of central organs within species (Geluso and Hayes, 1999;Russell and Chappell, 2007). In some interspecific comparisons, authors have elucidated positive correlations between BMR and sizes of some organs (Daan et al, 1990;Raichlen et al, 2010), but other studies have failed to find such an association (Tieleman et al, 2003).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Small organ size contributes to the slow pace of life in tropical birds

Wiersma

Nowak

Williams

2012

Journal of Experimental Biology

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Recently, we demonstrated that tropical birds have an 18% lower BMR, 34% lower PMR C and 39% lower PMR E compared with temperate species (Wiersma et al., 2007a;Wiersma et al., 2007b). Along with a reduced metabolism, tropical birds tend to have a smaller clutch size than their temperate counterparts (Cardillo, 2002;Kulesza, 1990) Accepted 25 January 2012 SUMMARY Attributes of an animalʼs life history, such as reproductive rate or longevity, typically fall along a ʻslow-fastʼ continuum. Animals at the fast end of this continuum, such as temperate birds, are thought to experience high rates of mortality and invest more resources in reproduction, whereas animals at the slow end, such as tropical birds, live longer, have fewer offspring and invest more resources in self-maintenance. We have previously shown that tropical birds, compared with temperate species, have a reduced basal (BMR) and peak metabolic rate (PMR), patterns consistent with a slow pace of life. Here, we elucidate a fundamental linkage between the smaller mass of central organs of tropical species and their reduced BMR, and between their smaller flight muscles and reduced PMR. Analyses of up to 408 species from the literature showed that the heart, flight muscles, liver, pancreas and kidneys were smaller in tropical species. Direct measurements on 49 species showed smaller heart, lungs, flight muscles, liver, kidneys, ovaries and testes in tropical species, as well as lower feather mass. In combination, our results indicate that the benign tropical environment imposes a relaxed selection pressure on high levels of sustained metabolic performance, permitting species to reduce the mass of organs that are energetically costly to maintain. Brain, gizzard and intestine were exceptions, even though energy turnover of brain and intestine are high. Feather mass was 37% lower in tropical species compared with similarsized temperate birds, supporting the idea that temperate birds require more insulation for thermoregulation. Supplementary material available online at

show abstract

“…Serventy 1971;Fisher et al 1972;Davies 1976;Main 1976;Schodde 1982;Withers and Williams 1990;Schleucher 1993;Tieleman et al 2003;Byrne et al 2008;Robin et al 2009). Predictions concerning regional biogeographic patterning, however, have not been tested thoroughly.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Birds in a vast arid upland: avian biogeographical patterns in the Pilbara region of Western Australia

Burbidge¹,

Johnstone²,

Pearson³

2010

Rec West Aust Mus Sup

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

-We surveyed for the presence/absence of bird species at 297 sites, each of 16 ha, chosen to represent the geographical extent and diversity of terrestrial environments across the Pilbara biogeographic region, Western Australia. We recorded 132 species with an average of 19.1 species per site with a range from 3 to 49. Sampling was carried out over a six-day period in each of two seasons, with visits of 0.5 to 1.0 hour to each site. The diurnal time of sampling at a site was varied in an effort to maximise the detection of species present. Environments sampled included stony hills, slopes and plains, massive rocks and scree slopes, clay plains, saline muds, deep sands and riverine sites. Vegetation on most sites consisted of hummock grasslands of spinifex (Triodia spp.), usually with widely scattered shrubs or eucalypt trees, while sites on alluvial plains typically supported bunch grasses, saline fl ats had samphires, run-on areas in the southern Pilbara often supported stands of mulga, and riparian sites had vegetation varying from shrubs to gallery woodlands. Bird species richness was highest in riparian sites and lowest on samphire fl ats. Patterns in species composition were correlated with vegetation and substrate variables, including soil depth, ruggedness of the topography, soil chemistry and the presence of trees or shrubs. Variation partitioning of results from a PCNM analysis, however, indicated that only 7% of the observed variation in species composition could be attributed solely to the 25 environmental variables we measured, suggesting that much of the Pilbara is relatively uniform from the perspective of terrestrial birds. These results suggest that the existing conservation reserve system is likely to adequately conserve most of the variation in terrestrial bird communities in the Pilbara. However, riparian vegetation, with its distinctive bird assemblages, requires special conservation attention. These areas are of limited extent in the Pilbara and are subject to pressures such as degradation by domestic and feral stock grazing, weed invasion and disturbance by mining infrastructure and groundwater extraction.

show abstract

Phenotypic Variation of Larks Along an Aridity Gradient: Are Desert Birds More Flexible?

Cited by 138 publications

References 41 publications

Local Adaptation to Winter Conditions in a Passerine Spreading North: A Common-Garden Approach

Local Adaptation to Winter Conditions in a Passerine Spreading North: A Common-Garden Approach

Small organ size contributes to the slow pace of life in tropical birds

Birds in a vast arid upland: avian biogeographical patterns in the Pilbara region of Western Australia

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About