The influence of spatially heterogeneous anthropogenic change on bill size evolution in a coastal songbird.

ABSTRACT: Natural history collections provide an unparalleled resource for documenting population responses to past anthropogenic change. However, in many cases, traits measured on specimens may vary temporally in response to a number of different anthropogenic pressures or demographic processes. While teasing apart these different drivers is challenging, approaches that integrate analyses of spatial and temporal series of specimens can provide a robust framework for examining whether traits exhibit common responses to ecological variation in space and time. We applied this approach to analyze bill morphology variation in California Savannah Sparrows (Passerculus sandwichensis). We found that bill surface area increased in birds from higher salinity tidal marshes that are hotter and drier. On

SUBMITTER: Benham PM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7896719 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature