Variability in bat morphology is influenced by temperature and forest cover and their interactions.

ABSTRACT: Multiple climatic and landscape drivers have been linked to variations in bat body size and wing functional traits. Most previous studies used proxies rather than actual climate and land-use data, and their interactions are rarely explored. We investigate whether higher summer average temperatures are driving decreasing bat body size as predicted by Bergmann's rule or increasing appendage size as per Allen's rule. We also explore whether temperature or resource availability (namely forest cover) is responsible for changes in wing functional traits. Using land-use data from historical maps and national statistics combined with climatic data, we assessed the effect of temperature and resource availability on bat morphology. We used 464 museum specimens of three bat species (Eptesicus nils

SUBMITTER: Wood H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9884614 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature