Abstract Increasing temperatures associated with climate change are predicted to cause reductions in body size, a key determinant of animal physiology and ecology. Using a four-decade specimen series of 70 716 individuals of 52 North American migratory bird species, we demonstrate that increasing annual summer temperature over the 40-year period predicts consistent reductions in body size across these diverse taxa. Concurrently, wing length – an index of body shape that impacts numerous aspects of avian ecology and behaviour – has consistently increased across species. Our findings suggest that warming-induced body size reduction is a general response to climate change, and reveal a similarly consistent and unexpected shift in body shape. We hypothesise that increasing wing length represents a compensatory adaptation to maintain migration as reductions in body size have increased the metabolic cost of flight. An improved understanding of warming-induced morphological changes is important for predicting biotic responses to global change.
%0 Journal Article
%1 weeksshared
%A Weeks, Brian C.
%A Willard, David E.
%A Zimova, Marketa
%A Ellis, Aspen A.
%A Witynski, Max L.
%A Hennen, Mary
%A Winger, Benjamin M.
%D 2019
%J Ecology Letters
%K birds body_size climate_change
%N n/a
%R 10.1111/ele.13434
%T Shared morphological consequences of global warming in North American migratory birds
%U https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/ele.13434
%V n/a
%X Abstract Increasing temperatures associated with climate change are predicted to cause reductions in body size, a key determinant of animal physiology and ecology. Using a four-decade specimen series of 70 716 individuals of 52 North American migratory bird species, we demonstrate that increasing annual summer temperature over the 40-year period predicts consistent reductions in body size across these diverse taxa. Concurrently, wing length – an index of body shape that impacts numerous aspects of avian ecology and behaviour – has consistently increased across species. Our findings suggest that warming-induced body size reduction is a general response to climate change, and reveal a similarly consistent and unexpected shift in body shape. We hypothesise that increasing wing length represents a compensatory adaptation to maintain migration as reductions in body size have increased the metabolic cost of flight. An improved understanding of warming-induced morphological changes is important for predicting biotic responses to global change.
@article{weeksshared,
abstract = {Abstract Increasing temperatures associated with climate change are predicted to cause reductions in body size, a key determinant of animal physiology and ecology. Using a four-decade specimen series of 70 716 individuals of 52 North American migratory bird species, we demonstrate that increasing annual summer temperature over the 40-year period predicts consistent reductions in body size across these diverse taxa. Concurrently, wing length – an index of body shape that impacts numerous aspects of avian ecology and behaviour – has consistently increased across species. Our findings suggest that warming-induced body size reduction is a general response to climate change, and reveal a similarly consistent and unexpected shift in body shape. We hypothesise that increasing wing length represents a compensatory adaptation to maintain migration as reductions in body size have increased the metabolic cost of flight. An improved understanding of warming-induced morphological changes is important for predicting biotic responses to global change.},
added-at = {2019-12-26T16:59:09.000+0100},
author = {Weeks, Brian C. and Willard, David E. and Zimova, Marketa and Ellis, Aspen A. and Witynski, Max L. and Hennen, Mary and Winger, Benjamin M.},
biburl = {https://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/2492cf0680a128a85bb5135cfdf11c871/peter.ralph},
doi = {10.1111/ele.13434},
eprint = {https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/ele.13434},
interhash = {e0cf451b50c977d0dd4091909f1b0206},
intrahash = {492cf0680a128a85bb5135cfdf11c871},
journal = {Ecology Letters},
keywords = {birds body_size climate_change},
number = {n/a},
timestamp = {2019-12-26T16:59:09.000+0100},
title = {Shared morphological consequences of global warming in North American migratory birds},
url = {https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/ele.13434},
volume = {n/a},
year = 2019
}