Cold winters have morph-specific effects on natal dispersal distance in a wild raptor.

ABSTRACT: Dispersal is a key process with crucial implications in spatial distribution, density, and genetic structure of species' populations. Dispersal strategies can vary according to both individual and environmental features, but putative phenotype-by-environment interactions have rarely been accounted for. Melanin-based color polymorphism is a phenotypic trait associated with specific behavioral and physiological profiles and is, therefore, a good candidate trait to study dispersal tactics in different environments. Here, using a 40 years dataset of a population of color polymorphic tawny owls (Strix aluco), we investigated natal dispersal distance of recruiting gray and pheomelanic reddish-brown (hereafter brown) color morphs in relation to post-fledging winter temperature and individu

SUBMITTER: Passarotto A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9015216 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Mar-Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature