Recent changes in the Earth’s climate have been linked to changes in phenology,
geographic distributions, and morphology of species, and warming temperatures associated
with climate change have been predicted to result in decreases in avian body sizes. We
examined changes in wing length and fat-free mass of 34,844 fall migrants from 31 neotrop-
ical migratory species captured at Patuxent Wildlife Research Center in Maryland between
1980 and 2012. Body size changes varied across species, but wing length and fat-free mass
increased significantly over time in the pooled sample of all species. Magnitudes of change
were small and similar to other studies, with mean wing length increasing 0.55% and mean
fat-free mass increasing 1.30% across all species. General morphological changes at our
site differed from those at a banding station located 235 km away. Across species, changes
in wing length were weakly correlated between stations, and changes in fat-free mass were
uncorrelated. Populations of some species showed opposite morphological changes, dem-
onstrating that morphological changes can vary regionally. Over short time scales, factors
other than climate might drive observed changes in body size of neotropical migrants, and
alternative hypotheses for body size changes should be considered.
%0 Journal Article
%1 collins2017neotropical
%A Collins, Michael D.
%A Relyea, George E.
%A Blustein, Erica C.
%A Badami, Steven M.
%D 2017
%I Humboldt Field Research Institute
%J Northeastern Naturalist
%K birds body_size climate_change
%N 1
%P 82--96
%R 10.1656/045.024.0107
%T Neotropical Migrants Exhibit Variable Body-Size Changes Over Time and Space
%U https://doi.org/10.1656%2F045.024.0107
%V 24
%X Recent changes in the Earth’s climate have been linked to changes in phenology,
geographic distributions, and morphology of species, and warming temperatures associated
with climate change have been predicted to result in decreases in avian body sizes. We
examined changes in wing length and fat-free mass of 34,844 fall migrants from 31 neotrop-
ical migratory species captured at Patuxent Wildlife Research Center in Maryland between
1980 and 2012. Body size changes varied across species, but wing length and fat-free mass
increased significantly over time in the pooled sample of all species. Magnitudes of change
were small and similar to other studies, with mean wing length increasing 0.55% and mean
fat-free mass increasing 1.30% across all species. General morphological changes at our
site differed from those at a banding station located 235 km away. Across species, changes
in wing length were weakly correlated between stations, and changes in fat-free mass were
uncorrelated. Populations of some species showed opposite morphological changes, dem-
onstrating that morphological changes can vary regionally. Over short time scales, factors
other than climate might drive observed changes in body size of neotropical migrants, and
alternative hypotheses for body size changes should be considered.
@article{collins2017neotropical,
abstract = {Recent changes in the Earth’s climate have been linked to changes in phenology,
geographic distributions, and morphology of species, and warming temperatures associated
with climate change have been predicted to result in decreases in avian body sizes. We
examined changes in wing length and fat-free mass of 34,844 fall migrants from 31 neotrop-
ical migratory species captured at Patuxent Wildlife Research Center in Maryland between
1980 and 2012. Body size changes varied across species, but wing length and fat-free mass
increased significantly over time in the pooled sample of all species. Magnitudes of change
were small and similar to other studies, with mean wing length increasing 0.55% and mean
fat-free mass increasing 1.30% across all species. General morphological changes at our
site differed from those at a banding station located 235 km away. Across species, changes
in wing length were weakly correlated between stations, and changes in fat-free mass were
uncorrelated. Populations of some species showed opposite morphological changes, dem-
onstrating that morphological changes can vary regionally. Over short time scales, factors
other than climate might drive observed changes in body size of neotropical migrants, and
alternative hypotheses for body size changes should be considered.},
added-at = {2019-12-26T17:03:07.000+0100},
author = {Collins, Michael D. and Relyea, George E. and Blustein, Erica C. and Badami, Steven M.},
biburl = {https://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/2c3ff7d08270a61e3cad8b94d1ceae367/peter.ralph},
doi = {10.1656/045.024.0107},
interhash = {51b190ccfcf8c5ea3f09dc560aa9be6b},
intrahash = {c3ff7d08270a61e3cad8b94d1ceae367},
journal = {Northeastern Naturalist},
keywords = {birds body_size climate_change},
month = mar,
number = 1,
pages = {82--96},
publisher = {Humboldt Field Research Institute},
timestamp = {2019-12-26T17:03:07.000+0100},
title = {Neotropical Migrants Exhibit Variable Body-Size Changes Over Time and Space},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1656%2F045.024.0107},
volume = 24,
year = 2017
}