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Long‐ and short‐term responses to climate change in body and appendage size of diverse Australian birds

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posted on 2024-10-25, 05:09 authored by Sara RydingSara Ryding, Alexandra McQueenAlexandra McQueen, Marcel KlaassenMarcel Klaassen, Glenn J Tattersall, Matthew SymondsMatthew Symonds
AbstractChanges to body size and shape have been identified as potential adaptive responses to climate change, but the pervasiveness of these responses has been questioned. To address this, we measured body and appendage size from 5013 museum bird skins of 78 ecologically and evolutionary diverse Australian species. We found that morphological change is a shared response to climate change across birds. Birds increased relative bill surface area, tarsus length, and relative wing length through time, consistent with expectations of increasing appendage size as climates warm. Furthermore, birds decreased in absolute wing length, consistent with the expectation of decreasing body size in warmer climates. Interestingly, these trends were generally consistent across different diets and migratory and thermoregulatory behaviors. Shorter term responses to higher temperatures were contrary to long‐term effects for appendages, wherein relative appendage size decreased after hotter years, indicating the complex selective pressures acting on birds as temperatures rise with climate change. Overall, our findings support the notion that morphological adaptation is a widespread response to climate change in birds that is independent of other ecological traits.

History

Journal

Global Change Biology

Volume

30

Article number

e17517

Pagination

1-13

Location

London, Eng.

Open access

  • Yes

ISSN

1354-1013

eISSN

1365-2486

Language

eng

Issue

10

Publisher

Wiley