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Conformity to Bergmann's rule in birds depends on nest design and migration

Mainwaring, Mark C.; Street, Sally E.

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Authors

Mark C. Mainwaring



Abstract

Ecogeographical rules attempt to explain large-scale spatial patterns in biological traits. One of the most enduring examples is Bergmann's rule, which states that species should be larger in colder climates due to the thermoregulatory advantages of larger body size. Support for Bergmann's rule, however, is not consistent across taxonomic groups, raising questions about what factors may moderate its effect. Behavior may play a crucial, yet so far underexplored, role in mediating the extent to which species are subject to environmental selection pressures in colder climates. Here, we tested the hypothesis that nest design and migration influence conformity to Bergmann's rule in a phylogenetic comparative analysis of the birds of the Western Palearctic, a group encompassing dramatic variation in both climate and body mass. We predicted that migratory species and those with more protected nest designs would conform less to the rule than sedentary species and those with more exposed nests. We find that sedentary, but not short- or long-distance migrating, species are larger in colder climates. Among sedentary species, conformity to Bergmann's rule depends, further, on nest design: Species with open nests, in which parents and offspring are most exposed to adverse climatic conditions during breeding, conform most strongly to the rule. Our findings suggest that enclosed nests and migration enable small birds to breed in colder environments than their body size would otherwise allow. Therefore, we conclude that behavior can substantially modify species’ responses to environmental selection pressures.

Citation

Mainwaring, M. C., & Street, S. E. (2021). Conformity to Bergmann's rule in birds depends on nest design and migration. Ecology and Evolution, 11(19), 13118-13127. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.8034

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Jul 21, 2021
Online Publication Date Aug 23, 2021
Publication Date Oct 7, 2021
Deposit Date Oct 28, 2021
Publicly Available Date Mar 28, 2024
Journal Ecology and Evolution
Electronic ISSN 2045-7758
Publisher Wiley Open Access
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 11
Issue 19
Pages 13118-13127
DOI https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.8034

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Publisher Licence URL
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Copyright Statement
© 2021 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.





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