Seasonal body size reductions with warming covary with major body size gradients in arthropod species.

ABSTRACT: Major biological and biogeographical rules link body size variation with latitude or environmental temperature, and these rules are often studied in isolation. Within multivoltine species, seasonal temperature variation can cause substantial changes in adult body size, as subsequent generations experience different developmental conditions. Yet, unlike other size patterns, these common seasonal temperature-size gradients have never been collectively analysed. We undertake the largest analysis to date of seasonal temperature-size gradients in multivoltine arthropods, including 102 aquatic and terrestrial species from 71 global locations. Adult size declines in warmer seasons in 86% of the species examined. Aquatic species show approximately 2.5-fold greater reduction in size per °C of warmi

SUBMITTER: Horne CR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5378092 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature