Shifting latitudinal clines in avian body size correlate with global warming in Australian passerines

Gardner, Janet L.; Heinsohn, Robert; Joseph, Leo

doi:10.1098/rspb.2009.1011

Cited by 104 publications

(104 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…While warming generally reduces body size within local communities [50,54,55], it is not clear whether large body-sized species tend to shift or expand their ranges more easily than smaller ones [24]. It is worth noting that species at higher trophic positions were homogeneously distributed across elevations; so range expansions in these groups would not occur.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate change impacts on body size and food web structure on mountain ecosystems

Lurgi

López

Montoya

2012

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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The current distribution of climatic conditions will be rearranged on the globe. To survive, species will have to keep pace with climates as they move. Mountains are among the most affected regions owing to both climate and land-use change. Here, we explore the effects of climate change in the vertebrate food web of the Pyrenees. We investigate elevation range expansions between two time-periods illustrative of warming conditions, to assess: (i) the taxonomic composition of range expanders; (ii) changes in food web properties such as the distribution of links per species and community size-structure; and (iii) what are the specific traits of range expanders that set them apart from the other species in the community-in particular, body mass, diet generalism, vulnerability and trophic position within the food web. We found an upward expansion of species at all elevations, which was not even for all taxonomic groups and trophic positions. At low and intermediate elevations, predator : prey mass ratios were significantly reduced. Expanders were larger, had fewer predators and were, in general, more specialists. Our study shows that elevation range expansions as climate warms have important and predictable impacts on the structure and size distribution of food webs across space.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate change impacts on body size and food web structure on mountain ecosystems

Lurgi

López

Montoya

2012

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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“…Starting at the population level, two recent reviews have shown heterogeneity in both the magnitude and the direction of size responses to warming [12,13]. The degree to which organism size is affected by temperature varies across taxa, but some general patterns can be recognized.…”

Section: Closed Communitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Novel communities from climate change

Lurgi

López

Montoya

2012

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

180

187

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Climate change is generating novel communities composed of new combinations of species. These result from different degrees of species adaptations to changing biotic and abiotic conditions, and from differential range shifts of species. To determine whether the responses of organisms are determined by particular species traits and how species interactions and community dynamics are likely to be disrupted is a challenge. Here, we focus on two key traits: body size and ecological specialization. We present theoretical expectations and empirical evidence on how climate change affects these traits within communities. We then explore how these traits predispose species to shift or expand their distribution ranges, and associated changes on community size structure, food web organization and dynamics. We identify three major broad changes: (i) Shift in the distribution of body sizes towards smaller sizes, (ii) dominance of generalized interactions and the loss of specialized interactions, and (iii) changes in the balance of strong and weak interaction strengths in the short term. We finally identify two major uncertainties: (i) whether largebodied species tend to preferentially shift their ranges more than small-bodied ones, and (ii) how interaction strengths will change in the long term and in the case of newly interacting species.

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“…This trend has also been reported in a number of sedentary and migratory bird species, such as House Sparrows (Passer domesticus; Johnston and Selander 1973), Crested Duck (Lophonetta specularioides; Bulgarella et al 2007), Torrent Duck (Merganetta armata; Gutiérrez-Pinto et al 2014) and some Andean passerine birds (Blackburn and Ruggiero 2001), but not in the Rufous-necked Snowfinch (Montifringilla ruficollis; Lu et al 2009). From a thermoregulatory viewpoint, increased body mass could be an adaptation to colder temperatures (Gardner et al 2009;Teplitsky and Millien 2014); the reduced surface area to volume ratio of larger-bodied individuals means that they lose proportionately less heat than smaller-bodied birds (Mayr 1956(Mayr , 1963Blackburn et al 1999).…”

Section: Geographic and Climatic Variation In Body Mass And Wing Lengthmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Previous studies have demonstrated a positive relationship between body size and latitude in both birds and mammals (Ashton 2002a;Meiri and Dayan 2003;Gardner et al 2009;Olson et al 2009). However, limited information is available on altitudinal variation in body size (Hamilton 1961;Blackburn and Ruggiero 2001;Chown and Klok 2003;Wilson et al 2010;Gutiérrez-Pinto et al 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of climate factors in geographic variation in body mass and wing length in a passerine bird

Sun

Song

et al. 2017

Avian Res

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Background: Geographic variation in body size is assumed to reflect adaptation to local environmental conditions. Although Bergmann's rule is usually sufficient to explain such variation in homeotherms, some exceptions have been documented. The relationship between altitude, latitude and body size, has been well documented for some vertebrate taxa during the past decades. However, relatively little information is available on the effects of climate variables on body size in birds. Methods:We collected the data of 267 adult Eurasian Tree Sparrow (Passer montanus) specimens sampled at 48 localities in China's mainland, and further investigated the relationships between two response variables, body mass and wing length, as well as a suit of explanatory variables, i.e. altitude, latitude, mean annual temperature (MAT), annual precipitation (PRC), annual sunshine hours (SUN), average annual wind speed (WS), air pressure (AP) and relative humidity (RH). Results:Our study showed that (1) although the sexes did not differ significantly in body mass, males had longer wings than females; (2) body mass and wing length were positively correlated with altitude but not with latitude; (3) body mass and wing length were negatively correlated with AP and RH, but not significantly correlated with WS. Body mass was positively correlated with SUN and inversely correlated with MAT. Wing length was not correlated with MAT in either sex, but was positively correlated with SUN and negatively correlated with PRC in male sparrows; (4) variation in body mass could be best explained by AP and SUN, whereas variation in wing length could be explained by RH and AP in both sexes. In addition, variation in male sparrows can be explained by SUN, WS and PRC but not in females. Conclusions:Two different proxies of body size, body mass and wing length, correlated with same geographic factors and different climate factors. These differences may reflect selection for heat conservation in the case of body mass, and for efficient flight in the case of wing length.

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Shifting latitudinal clines in avian body size correlate with global warming in Australian passerines

Cited by 104 publications

References 48 publications

Climate change impacts on body size and food web structure on mountain ecosystems

Climate change impacts on body size and food web structure on mountain ecosystems

Novel communities from climate change

The role of climate factors in geographic variation in body mass and wing length in a passerine bird

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