Sexual selection predicts advancement of avian spring migration in response to climate change.

ABSTRACT: Global warming has led to earlier spring arrival of migratory birds, but the extent of this advancement varies greatly among species, and it remains uncertain to what degree these changes are phenotypically plastic responses or microevolutionary adaptations to changing environmental conditions. We suggest that sexual selection could help to understand this variation, since early spring arrival of males is favoured by female choice. Climate change could weaken the strength of natural selection opposing sexual selection for early migration, which would predict greatest advancement in species with stronger female choice. We test this hypothesis comparatively by investigating the degree of long-term change in spring passage at two ringing stations in northern Europe in relation to a synthetic

SUBMITTER: Spottiswoode CN 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1679901 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature