225 results on '"Phillimore, Albert"'
Search Results
2. Buffering and phenological mismatch: A change of perspective.
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Weir, Jamie C. and Phillimore, Albert B.
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CLIMATE change , *ENVIRONMENTAL history , *CATERPILLARS , *PLANT phenology , *SYNCHRONIC order , *CONSUMERS - Abstract
The potential for climate change to disrupt phenology‐mediated interactions in interaction networks has attracted considerable attention in recent decades. Frequently, studies emphasize the fragility of ephemeral seasonal interactions, and the risks posed by phenological asynchrony. Here, we argue that the fitness consequences of asynchrony in phenological interactions may often be more buffered than is typically acknowledged. We identify three main forms that buffering may take: (i) mechanisms that reduce asynchrony between consumer and resource; (ii) mechanisms that reduce the costs of being asynchronous; and (iii) mechanisms that dampen interannual variance in performance across higher organizational units. Using synchrony between the hatching of winter moth caterpillars and the leafing of their host‐plants as a case study, we identify a wide variety of buffers that reduce the detrimental consequences of phenological asynchrony on caterpillar individuals, populations, and meta‐populations. We follow this by drawing on examples across a breadth of taxa, and demonstrate that these buffering mechanisms may be quite general. We conclude by identifying key gaps in our knowledge of the fitness and demographic consequences of buffering, in the context of phenological mismatch. Buffering has the potential to substantially alter our understanding of the biotic impacts of future climate change—a greater recognition of the contribution of these mechanisms may reveal that many trophic interactions are surprisingly resilient, and also serve to shift research emphasis to those systems with fewer buffers and towards identifying the limits of those buffers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
3. The environmental predictors of spatiotemporal variation in the breeding phenology of a passerine bird
- Author
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Shutt, Jack D., Cabello, Irene Benedicto, Keogan, Katharine, Leech, David I., Samplonius, Jelmer M., Whittle, Lorienne, Burgess, Malcolm D., and Phillimore, Albert B.
- Published
- 2019
4. A simple dynamic model explains the diversity of island birds worldwide
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Valente, Luis, Phillimore, Albert B., Melo, Martim, Warren, Ben H., Clegg, Sonya M., Havenstein, Katja, and Tiedemann, Ralph
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Island fauna -- Identification and classification ,Biological diversity -- Models ,Birds -- Varieties -- Analysis ,Environmental issues ,Science and technology ,Zoology and wildlife conservation - Abstract
Colonization, speciation and extinction are dynamic processes that influence global patterns of species richness.sup.1-6. Island biogeography theory predicts that the contribution of these processes to the accumulation of species diversity depends on the area and isolation of the island.sup.7,8. Notably, there has been no robust global test of this prediction for islands where speciation cannot be ignored.sup.9, because neither the appropriate data nor the analytical tools have been available. Here we address both deficiencies to reveal, for island birds, the empirical shape of the general relationships that determine how colonization, extinction and speciation rates co-vary with the area and isolation of islands. We compiled a global molecular phylogenetic dataset of birds on islands, based on the terrestrial avifaunas of 41 oceanic archipelagos worldwide (including 596 avian taxa), and applied a new analysis method to estimate the sensitivity of island-specific rates of colonization, speciation and extinction to island features (area and isolation). Our model predicts--with high explanatory power--several global relationships. We found a decline in colonization with isolation, a decline in extinction with area and an increase in speciation with area and isolation. Combining the theoretical foundations of island biogeography.sup.7,8 with the temporal information contained in molecular phylogenies.sup.10 proves a powerful approach to reveal the fundamental relationships that govern variation in biodiversity across the planet. Using a global molecular phylogenetic dataset of birds on islands, the sensitivity of island-specific rates of colonization, speciation and extinction to island features (area and isolation) is estimated., Author(s): Luis Valente [sup.1] [sup.2] [sup.3] [sup.4] , Albert B. Phillimore [sup.5] , Martim Melo [sup.6] [sup.7] [sup.8] , Ben H. Warren [sup.9] , Sonya M. Clegg [sup.10] [sup.11] , [...]
- Published
- 2020
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- View/download PDF
5. The phenology and clutch size of UK Blue Tits does not differ with woodland composition.
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Branston, Claire J., Whittingham, Mark J., Phillimore, Albert B., Leech, Dave, and Willis, Stephen G.
- Subjects
BLUE tit ,ANIMAL clutches ,PLANT phenology ,PHENOLOGY ,FORESTS & forestry ,EUROPEAN beech ,BIRD food - Abstract
The deciduous tree‐herbivorous caterpillar‐insectivorous bird food chain is a well‐studied system for investigating the impacts of climate change across trophic levels. To date, across Europe, most attention has focused on the impacts of increasing spring temperature on changes to phenology in Oak‐dominated (Quercus spp.) woodlands. Paridae species and Pied Flycatcher Ficedula hypoleuca are the most studied secondary consumers, all of which demonstrate an advancement in reproductive phenology with increases in spring temperature. Shifts in climate and phenology may also impact on reproductive investment in clutch size, and the effects of climate on phenology and clutch size may vary depending on woodland composition. To date, the effects of among‐habitat variation in phenology and reproductive investment have received little attention. Insectivorous birds inhabiting woodlands that differ in tree composition may differ in the timing of breeding, due to local tree leafing phenology acting as a cue for egg‐laying date and/or clutch size. Moreover, for most insectivorous birds, woodland composition within a territory is likely to be the main determinant of food availability for both adults and chicks. Consequently, if warming springs affect the temporal patterns of food availability differently across different woodland compositions, this may affect the optimal average local phenology for nesting birds. Here, using data from 34 long‐term (mean 15 years) nest monitoring sites across the UK, we investigate the effect of woodland tree composition and temperature on Blue Tit Cyanistes caeruleus first egg date (FED) and clutch size. We supplemented the nest monitoring data by quantifying woodland composition, at a site level, through modified point counts. We predict that birds breeding in woodlands with greater proportions of late‐leafing species, such as Oak and Ash Fraxinus excelsior, will breed later than those breeding in woodlands with greater proportions of early‐leafing species, such as Birch Betula spp. and Beech Fagus sylvatica. We found no evidence for differences in Blue Tit FED or clutch size in relation to the proportion of any of the tree species investigated, after controlling for temperature and latitude (FED: −3.4 and 2.2, clutch size: −0.4 and − 0.2 eggs for one‐unit increase in temperature and latitude, respectively). In recent decades and across all sites, clutch size has decreased as spring temperatures have increased, a strategy which could allow birds flexibly to adjust their breeding phenology such that nestling demand coincides with peak food availability. The lack of an effect of woodland composition on Blue Tit phenology suggests Blue Tits do not fine‐tune their reproductive phenology to the local tree composition. Whether this lack of evidence for phenological divergence is due to an absence of divergent selection on breeding phenology and clutch size or to gene flow is not clear. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
6. Phenology.
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Macphie, Kirsty H. and Phillimore, Albert B.
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PHENOLOGY , *EFFECT of human beings on climate change , *CLIMATE change , *FISH spawning , *PLANT phenology , *ANTHROPOGENIC effects on nature - Abstract
Flowers blooming, fungi fruiting, insects biting, fish spawning, geese migrating, deer calving; our consciousness is steeped in a seasonal calendar of nature's events. Phenology is the study of these recurring, seasonal life-history events, though nowadays this term is widely applied to the events themselves. From Shakespeare's sonnet 98, " From you I have been absent in the spring ", to the appearance of seasonal events and migratory species in the oral traditions of Native Americans, interest in phenology is long-standing and transcends cultures. In this primer we introduce the study of phenology, trace the development of the field, and examine the prominent role phenology has played in evidencing the widespread impacts of anthropogenic climate change on life on Earth. We will consider the potential implications of climatic change for the ability of populations to persist and the stability of species interactions. Phenology, the timing of an organism's recurrent life history events, determines the abiotic conditions and biotic interactions with which it is presented. In this primer, Macphie and Phillimore provide an overview of the science of phenology and discuss the implications of these important timing mechanisms for the ability of populations to persist in the face of climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
- Full Text
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7. The ecological basis of speciation and divergence in birds
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Phillimore, Albert
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598.138 - Published
- 2006
8. Temporal shifts and temperature sensitivity of avian spring migratory phenology: a phylogenetic meta-analysis
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Usui, Takuji, Butchart, Stuart H. M., and Phillimore, Albert B.
- Published
- 2017
9. Modelling thermal sensitivity in the full phenological distribution: A new approach applied to the spring arboreal caterpillar peak.
- Author
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Macphie, Kirsty H., Samplonius, Jelmer M., Pick, Joel L., Hadfield, Jarrod D., and Phillimore, Albert B.
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PLANT phenology ,SPRING ,GLOBAL warming ,CATERPILLARS ,NUTRIENT cycles ,FOREST microclimatology - Abstract
Advances in spring phenology are among the clearest biological responses to climate warming. There has been much interest in how climate impacts on phenology because the timings of key events have implications for species interactions, nutrient cycling and ecosystem services. To date most work has focused on only one aspect of population phenology, the effects of temperature on the average timing. In comparison, effects of temperature on the abundance of individuals and their seasonal spread are understudied, despite their potential to have profound impacts on species interactions.Here we develop a new method that directly estimates the effect of spring temperatures on the timing, height and width of the phenological distribution and apply it to temperate forest caterpillars, a guild that has been the focus of much research on phenology and trophic mismatch.We find that warmer spring conditions advance the timing of the phenological distribution of abundance by −4.96 days °C−1 and increase its height by 34% °C−1 but have no significant effect on the duration of the distribution. An increase in the maximum density of arboreal caterpillars with rising temperatures has implications for understanding climate impacts on forest food chains, both in terms of herbivory pressure and the resources available to secondary consumers.The new method we have developed allows the thermal sensitivity in the full phenological distribution to be modelled directly from raw data, providing a flexible approach that has broad applicability within global change research. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2023
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10. Space‐for‐time substitutions in climate change ecology and evolution.
- Author
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Lovell, Rebecca S. L., Collins, Sinead, Martin, Simon H., Pigot, Alex L., and Phillimore, Albert B.
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BIOTIC communities ,CLIMATE research ,SPECIES distribution ,ECOLOGICAL niche ,ECOLOGICAL models - Abstract
In an epoch of rapid environmental change, understanding and predicting how biodiversity will respond to a changing climate is an urgent challenge. Since we seldom have sufficient long‐term biological data to use the past to anticipate the future, spatial climate–biotic relationships are often used as a proxy for predicting biotic responses to climate change over time. These 'space‐for‐time substitutions' (SFTS) have become near ubiquitous in global change biology, but with different subfields largely developing methods in isolation. We review how climate‐focussed SFTS are used in four subfields of ecology and evolution, each focussed on a different type of biotic variable – population phenotypes, population genotypes, species' distributions, and ecological communities. We then examine the similarities and differences between subfields in terms of methods, limitations and opportunities. While SFTS are used for a wide range of applications, two main approaches are applied across the four subfields: spatial in situ gradient methods and transplant experiments. We find that SFTS methods share common limitations relating to (i) the causality of identified spatial climate–biotic relationships and (ii) the transferability of these relationships, i.e. whether climate–biotic relationships observed over space are equivalent to those occurring over time. Moreover, despite widespread application of SFTS in climate change research, key assumptions remain largely untested. We highlight opportunities to enhance the robustness of SFTS by addressing key assumptions and limitations, with a particular emphasis on where approaches could be shared between the four subfields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2023
- Full Text
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11. The phenology and clutch size of UK blue tits does not differ with woodland composition
- Author
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Branston, Claire J, Whittingham, Mark J, Phillimore, Albert (Ally) B, Leech, Dave, and Willis, Stephen G
- Subjects
productivity ,woodland composition ,blue tilt ,phenology ,climate - Abstract
The deciduous tree-herbivorous caterpillar-insectivorous bird food chain is a well-studied system for investigating the impacts of climate change across trophic levels. To date, across Europe, most attention has focussed on the impacts of increasing spring temperature on changes to phenology in Oak-dominated (Quercus spp.) woodlands. Paridae species and Pied Flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca) are the most studied secondary consumers, which all demonstrate an advancement in reproductive phenology with increases in spring temperature. Shifts in climate and phenology may also impact on reproductive investment in clutch size, and the effects of climate on phenology and clutch size may vary depending on woodland composition.To date, the effects of among-habitat variation in phenology and reproductive investment has received little attention. Insectivorous birds inhabiting woodlands that differ in tree composition may differ in the timing of breeding, due to local tree leafing phenology acting as a cue for egg laying date and/or clutch size. Moreover, for most insectivorous birds, woodland composition within a territory is likely to be the main determinant of food availability for both adults and chicks. Consequently, if warming springs affect the temporal patterns of food availability differently across different woodland compositions this may affect the optimal average local phenology for nesting birds. Here, using data from 34 long-term (mean 15 years) nest monitoring sites across the UK, we investigate the effect of woodland tree composition and temperature on Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) first egg date (FED) and clutch size. We supplemented the nest monitoring data by quantifying woodland composition, at a site level, through modified point counts. We hypothesise that birds breeding in woodlands with greater proportions of late-leafing species, such as Oak and Ash (Fraxinus excelsior), will breed later than those breeding in woodlands with greater proportions of early-leafing species, such as Birch (Betuala spp.) and Beech (Fagus sylvatica). We found no evidence for differences in Blue Tit FED or clutch size in relation to the proportion of any of the tree species investigated, after controlling for temperature and latitude (FED: -3.4 and 2.2, clutch size: -0.4 and -0.2 eggs for one unit increase in temperature and latitude respectively). In recent decades and across all sites, clutch size has decreased as spring temperatures have increased, a strategy which could allow birds to flexibly adjust their breeding phenology such that nestling demand coincides with peak food availability. The lack of an effect of woodland composition on Blue Tit phenology suggests Blue Tits do not fine tune their reproductive phenology to the local tree composition. Whether this lack of evidence for phenological divergence is due to an absence of divergent selection on breeding phenology and clutch size or gene flow is not clear.
- Published
- 2023
12. Tritrophic phenological match–mismatch in space and time
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Burgess, Malcolm D., Smith, Ken W., Evans, Karl L., Leech, Dave, Pearce-Higgins, James W., Branston, Claire J., Briggs, Kevin, Clark, John R., du Feu, Chris R., Lewthwaite, Kate, Nager, Ruedi G., Sheldon, Ben C., Smith, Jeremy A., Whytock, Robin C., Willis, Stephen G., and Phillimore, Albert B.
- Published
- 2018
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13. Global phenological insensitivity to shifting ocean temperatures among seabirds
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Keogan, Katharine, Daunt, Francis, Wanless, Sarah, Phillips, Richard A., Walling, Craig A., Agnew, Philippa, Ainley, David G., Anker-Nilssen, Tycho, Ballard, Grant, Barrett, Robert T., Barton, Kerry J., Bech, Claus, Becker, Peter, Berglund, Per-Arvid, Bollache, Loïc, Bond, Alexander L., Bouwhuis, Sandra, Bradley, Russell W., Burr, Zofia M., Camphuysen, Kees, Catry, Paulo, Chiaradia, Andre, Christensen-Dalsgaard, Signe, Cuthbert, Richard, Dehnhard, Nina, Descamps, Sébastien, Diamond, Tony, Divoky, George, Drummond, Hugh, Dugger, Katie M., Dunn, Michael J., Emmerson, Louise, Erikstad, Kjell Einar, Fort, Jérôme, Fraser, William, Genovart, Meritxell, Gilg, Olivier, González-Solís, Jacob, Granadeiro, José Pedro, Grémillet, David, Hansen, Jannik, Hanssen, Sveinn A., Harris, Mike, Hedd, April, Hinke, Jefferson, Igual, José Manuel, Jahncke, Jaime, Jones, Ian, Kappes, Peter J., Lang, Johannes, Langset, Magdalene, Lescroël, Amélie, Lorentsen, Svein-Håkon, Lyver, Phil O’B., Mallory, Mark, Moe, Børge, Montevecchi, William A., Monticelli, David, Mostello, Carolyn, Newell, Mark, Nicholson, Lisa, Nisbet, Ian, Olsson, Olof, Oro, Daniel, Pattison, Vivian, Poisbleau, Maud, Pyk, Tanya, Quintana, Flavio, Ramos, Jaime A., Ramos, Raül, Reiertsen, Tone Kirstin, Rodríguez, Cristina, Ryan, Peter, Sanz-Aguilar, Ana, Schmidt, Niels M., Shannon, Paula, Sittler, Benoit, Southwell, Colin, Surman, Christopher, Svagelj, Walter S., Trivelpiece, Wayne, Warzybok, Pete, Watanuki, Yutaka, Weimerskirch, Henri, Wilson, Peter R., Wood, Andrew G., Phillimore, Albert B., and Lewis, Sue
- Published
- 2018
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14. Conducting robust ecological analyses with climate data
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Suggitt, Andrew J., Platts, Philip J., Barata, Izabela M., Bennie, Jonathan J., Burgess, Malcolm D., Bystriakova, Nadia, Duffield, Simon, Ewing, Steven R., Gillingham, Phillipa K., Harper, Anna B., Hartley, Andrew J., Hemming, Deborah L., Maclean, Ilya M. D., Maltby, Katherine, Marshall, Harry H., Morecroft, Mike D., Pearce‐Higgins, James W., Pearce‐Kelly, Paul, Phillimore, Albert B., Price, Jeff T., Pyke, Ayesha, Stewart, James E., Warren, Rachel, and Hill, Jane K.
- Published
- 2017
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15. Inferring local processes from macro-scale phenological pattern: a comparison of two methods
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Phillimore, Albert B., Proios, Konstantinos, O'Mahony, Naiara, Bernard, Rodolphe, Lord, Alexa M., Atkinson, Sian, and Smithers, Richard J.
- Published
- 2013
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16. Identification of 100 fundamental ecological questions
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Sutherland, William J., Freckleton, Robert P., Godfray, H. Charles J., Beissinger, Steven R., Benton, Tim, Cameron, Duncan D., Carmel, Yohay, Coomes, David A., Coulson, Tim, Emmerson, Mark C., Hails, Rosemary S., Hays, Graeme C., Hodgson, Dave J., Hutchings, Michael J., Johnson, David, Jones, Julia P. G., Keeling, Matt J., Kokko, Hanna, Kunin, William E., Lambin, Xavier, Lewis, Owen T., Malhi, Yadvinder, Mieszkowska, Nova, Milner-Gulland, E. J., Norris, Ken, Phillimore, Albert B., Purves, Drew W., Reid, Jane M., Reuman, Daniel C., Thompson, Ken, Travis, Justin M. J., Turnbull, Lindsay A., Wardle, David A., and Wiegand, Thorsten
- Published
- 2013
- Full Text
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17. Dissecting the Contributions of Plasticity and Local Adaptation to the Phenology of a Butterfly and Its Host Plants
- Author
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Phillimore, Albert B., Stålhandske, Sandra, Smithers, Richard J., and Bernard, Rodolphe
- Published
- 2012
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18. Slaying dragons: limited evidence for unusual body size evolution on islands
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Meiri, Shai, Raia, Pasquale, and Phillimore, Albert B.
- Published
- 2011
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19. Differences in spawning date between populations of common frog reveal local adaptation
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Phillimore, Albert B., Hadfield, Jarrod D., Jones, Owen R., Smithers, Richard J., and Wake, David B.
- Published
- 2010
20. The influence of gene flow and drift on genetic and phenotypic divergence in two species of Zosterops in Vanuatu
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Clegg, Sonya M. and Phillimore, Albert B.
- Published
- 2010
21. Biogeographical Patterns of Blood Parasite Lineage Diversity in Avian Hosts from Southern Melanesian Islands
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Ishtiaq, Farah, Clegg, Sonya M., Phillimore, Albert B., Black, Richard A., Owens, Ian P. F., and Sheldon, Ben C.
- Published
- 2010
- Full Text
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22. The Great American Biotic Interchange in Birds
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Weir, Jason T., Bermingham, Eldredge, Schluter, Dolph, and Phillimore, Albert B.
- Published
- 2009
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23. Ecomorphological Predictors of Natal Dispersal Distances in Birds
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Dawideit, Britta A., Phillimore, Albert B., Laube, Irina, Leisler, Bernd, and Böhning-Gaese, Katrin
- Published
- 2009
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24. Relating Traits to Diversification: A Simple Test
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Freckleton, Robert P., Phillimore, Albert B., and Pagel, Mark
- Published
- 2008
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25. Sympatric Speciation in Birds Is Rare: Insights from Range Data and Simulations
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Phillimore, Albert B., Orme, C. David L., Thomas, Gavin H., Blackburn, Tim M., Bennett, Peter M., Gaston, Kevin J., and Owens, Ian P. F.
- Published
- 2008
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26. Ecology Predicts Large‐Scale Patterns of Phylogenetic Diversification in Birds
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Phillimore, Albert B., Freckleton, Robert P., Orme, C. David L., and Owens, Ian P. F.
- Published
- 2006
- Full Text
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27. Changing climate cues differentially alter zooplankton dormancy dynamics across latitudes
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Jones, Natalie T., Gilbert, Benjamin, and Phillimore, Albert
- Published
- 2016
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28. No evidence for fitness signatures consistent with increasing trophic mismatch over 30 years in a population of European shag Phalacrocorax aristotelis
- Author
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Keogan, Katharine, Lewis, Sue, Howells, Richard J., Newell, Mark A., Harris, Michael P., Burthe, Sarah, Phillips, Richard A., Wanless, Sarah, Phillimore, Albert B., and Daunt, Francis
- Subjects
Ammodytes marinus, breeding phenology, environmental change, lesser sandeel, long-term study, match–mismatch hypothesis, stabilising selection, trophic asynchrony - Abstract
As temperatures rise, timing of reproduction is changing at different rates across trophic levels, potentially resulting in asynchrony between consumers and their resources. The match-mismatch hypothesis (MMH) suggests that trophic asynchrony will have negative impacts on average productivity of consumers. It is also thought to lead to selection on timing of breeding, as the most asynchronous individuals will show the greatest reductions in fitness.Using a 30-year individual-level dataset of breeding phenology and success from a population of European shags on the Isle of May, Scotland, we tested a series of predictions consistent with the hypothesis that fitness impacts of trophic asynchrony are increasing.These predictions quantified changes in average annual breeding success and strength of selection on timing of breeding, over time and in relation to rising sea surface temperature (SST) and diet composition.Annual average (population) breeding success was negatively correlated with average lay date yet showed no trend over time, or in relation to increasing SST or the proportion of principal prey in the diet, as would be expected if trophic mismatch was increasing. At the individual level, we found evidence for stabilising selection and directional selection for earlier breeding, although the earliest birds were not the most productive. However, selection for earlier laying did not strengthen over time, or in relation to SST or slope of the seasonal shift in diet from principal to secondary prey. We found that the optimum lay date advanced by almost 4 weeks during the study, and that the population mean lay date tracked this shift.Our results indicate that average performance correlates with absolute timing of breeding of the population, and there is selection for earlier laying at the individual level. However, we found no fitness signatures of a change in the impact of climate-induced trophic mismatch, and evidence that shags are tracking long-term shifts in optimum timing. This suggests that if asynchrony is present in this system, breeding success is not impacted. Our approach highlights the advantages of examining variation at both population and individual levels when assessing evidence for fitness impacts of trophic asynchrony.
- Published
- 2021
29. Biogeographical basis of recent phenotypic divergence among birds: A global study of subspecies richness
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Phillimore, Albert B, Orme, C. David L., Davies, Richard G, Hadfield, Jarrod D., Reed, William J, Gaston, Kevin J., Freckleton, Robert P., and Owens, P.F.
- Subjects
Birds -- Genetic aspects ,Birds -- Research ,Divergent evolution -- Research ,Biological sciences - Abstract
Biogeographical factors that influence phenotypic divergence patterns in birds were studied. No significant relationship was found between species age and subspecies richness in birds, however high subspecies richness was found to be associated with large breeding range size.
- Published
- 2007
30. Reduced Major Axis Regression and the Island Rule
- Author
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Price, Trevor D. and Phillimore, Albert B.
- Published
- 2007
- Full Text
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31. Island, archipelago and taxon effects: mixed models as a means of dealing with the imperfect design of natureʼs experiments
- Author
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Bunnefeld, Nils and Phillimore, Albert B.
- Published
- 2012
- Full Text
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32. The Shape and Temporal Dynamics of Phylogenetic Trees Arising from Geographic Speciation
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Pigot, Alex L., Phillimore, Albert B., Owens, Ian P. F., and Orme, C. David L.
- Published
- 2010
- Full Text
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33. Local snowmelt and temperature – but not regional sea‐ice – explain variation in spring phenology in coastal Arctic tundra
- Author
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Assmann, Jakob Johann, Myers-Smith, Isla, Phillimore, Albert B., Björkman, Anne D., Ennos, Richard E., Prevéy, Janet, Henry, Greg H. R., Schmidt, Niels Martin, and Hollister, Robert D.
- Subjects
climate change ,spring ,vegetation ,temperature ,snow melt ,Arctic tundra ,human activities ,phenology ,sea ice - Abstract
The Arctic is undergoing dramatic environmental change with rapidly rising surface temperatures, accelerating sea ice decline and changing snow regimes, all of which influence tundra plant phenology. Despite these changes, no globally consistent direction of trends in spring phenology has been reported across the Arctic. While spring has advanced at some sites, spring has delayed or not changed at other sites, highlighting substantial unexplained variation. Here, we test the relative importance of local temperatures, local snow melt date and regional spring drop in sea ice extent as controls of variation in spring phenology across different sites and species. Trends in long‐term time series of spring leaf‐out and flowering (average span: 18 years) were highly variable for the 14 tundra species monitored at our four study sites on the Arctic coasts of Alaska, Canada and Greenland, ranging from advances of 10.06 days per decade to delays of 1.67 days per decade. Spring temperatures and the day of spring drop in sea ice extent advanced at all sites (average 1°C per decade and 21 days per decade, respectively), but only those sites with advances in snow melt (average 5 days advance per decade) also had advancing phenology. Variation in spring plant phenology was best explained by snow melt date (mean effect: 0.45 days advance in phenology per day advance snow melt) and, to a lesser extent, by mean spring temperature (mean effect: 2.39 days advance in phenology per °C). In contrast to previous studies examining sea ice and phenology at different spatial scales, regional spring drop in sea ice extent did not predict spring phenology for any species or site in our analysis. Our findings highlight that tundra vegetation responses to global change are more complex than a direct response to warming and emphasize the importance of snow melt as a local driver of tundra spring phenology.
- Published
- 2019
34. The effects of woodland habitat and biogeography on blue tit Cyanistes caeruleus territory occupancy and productivity along a 220 km transect
- Author
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Shutt, Jack D, Bolton, Margaret, Cabello, Irene Benedicto, Burgess, Malcolm D, and Phillimore, Albert B
- Subjects
clutch size ,productivity ,elevation ,prey availability ,habitat ,latitude ,spatial autocorrelation ,occupancy - Abstract
The nesting phenology and productivity of hole‐nesting woodland passerines, such as tit species (Paridae), has been the subject of many studies and played a central role in advancing our understanding of the causes and consequences of trophic mismatch. However, as most studies have been conducted in mature, oak‐rich (Quercus sp.) woodlands, it is unknown whether insights from such studies generalise to other habitats used by woodland generalist species. Here we applied spatial mixed models to data collected over three years (2014‐2016) from 238 nestboxes across 40 sites – that vary in woodland habitat and elevation – along a 220km transect in Scotland. We evaluate the importance of habitat, biogeography and food availability as predictors of mesoscale among‐site variation in blue tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) nestbox occupancy and two components of productivity (clutch size and fledging success). We found that habitat was not a significant predictor of occupancy or clutch size but that occupancy exhibited pronounced biogeographic trends, declining with increasing latitude and elevation. However, fledging success, defined as the proportion of a clutch that fledged, was positively correlated with site level availability of birch, oak and sycamore, and tree diversity. The lack of correspondence between the effects of habitat on fledging success versus occupancy and clutch size may indicate that blue tits do not accurately predict the future quality of their breeding sites when selecting territories and laying clutches. We found little evidence of spatial autocorrelation in occupancy or clutch size, whereas spatial autocorrelation in fledging success extends over multiple sites, albeit non‐significantly. Taken together, our findings suggest that the relationship between breeding decisions and breeding outcomes varies among habitats, and we urge caution when extrapolating inferences from one habitat to others.
- Published
- 2018
35. Population responses of farmland bird species to agri-environment schemes and land management options in Northeastern Scotland
- Author
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Daskalova, Gergana N., Phillimore, Albert B., Bell, Matthew, Maggs, Hywel E., and Perkins, Allan J.
- Published
- 2018
36. Predicting a change in the order of spring phenology in temperate forests
- Author
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Roberts, Adrian M.I., Tansey, Christine, Smithers, Richard J., and Phillimore, Albert B.
- Subjects
species interactions ,climate change ,growing degree‐day ,forcing ,plasticity ,shade ,chilling ,Primary Research Article ,prediction ,Primary Research Articles ,phenology - Abstract
The rise in spring temperatures over the past half‐century has led to advances in the phenology of many nontropical plants and animals. As species and populations differ in their phenological responses to temperature, an increase in temperatures has the potential to alter timing‐dependent species interactions. One species‐interaction that may be affected is the competition for light in deciduous forests, where early vernal species have a narrow window of opportunity for growth before late spring species cast shade. Here we consider the Marsham phenology time series of first leafing dates of thirteen tree species and flowering dates of one ground flora species, which spans two centuries. The exceptional length of this time series permits a rare comparison of the statistical support for parameter‐rich regression and mechanistic thermal sensitivity phenology models. While mechanistic models perform best in the majority of cases, both they and the regression models provide remarkably consistent insights into the relative sensitivity of each species to forcing and chilling effects. All species are sensitive to spring forcing, but we also find that vernal and northern European species are responsive to cold temperatures in the previous autumn. Whether this sensitivity reflects a chilling requirement or a delaying of dormancy remains to be tested. We then apply the models to projected future temperature data under a fossil fuel intensive emissions scenario and predict that while some species will advance substantially others will advance by less and may even be delayed due to a rise in autumn and winter temperatures. Considering the projected responses of all fourteen species, we anticipate a change in the order of spring events, which may lead to changes in competitive advantage for light with potential implications for the composition of temperate forests.
- Published
- 2015
37. The correlates of intraspecific variation in nest height and nest building duration in the Eurasian blue tit Cyanistes caeruleus.
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der Weduwen, Dagmar, Keogan, Katharine, Samplonius, Jelmer M., Phillimore, Albert B., and Shutt, Jack D.
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BLUE tit ,NEST building ,MASCULINE identity ,FEMININE identity ,BIRD nests ,PHENOLOGY ,HENS - Abstract
Birds build nests primarily as a receptacle to lay their eggs in, but they can also provide secondary benefits including structural support, camouflage and adjustment of the microclimate surrounding the eggs and offspring. The factors underlying intraspecific variation in nest characteristics are poorly understood. In this study, we aim to identify the environmental factors that predict nest height variation and the duration of nest building in blue tits Cyanistes caeruleus, evaluating latitude, elevation, temperature and the timing of egg‐laying as predictors of nest height, while also taking into account female and male parental identity. Using 713 nest height observations collected over a period of five years along a 220 km transect in Scotland, we found that if the annual mean timing of egg‐laying was earlier, nests were taller. However, there was no correlation between nest height and elevation, latitude, the minimum temperature in the 14 days pre‐egg‐laying or the phenology of birds within a year. Female parental identity accounted for a large amount of variation in nest height, suggesting that individual behaviour has an influence on nest structure. We also found that nest building duration was shorter when egg laying occurred earlier in the year, and that across all observations taller nests took longer to build. Overall, our results show that blue tits are able to alter their nest characteristics based on environmental gradients like latitude (in the case of building duration) and the annual mean phenological variation of egg laying, and that birds build relatively taller nests faster. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2021
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
38. Chapter 4: Subspecies Origination and Extinction in Birds
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Phillimore, Albert B.
- Published
- 2010
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
39. Accounting for year effects and sampling error in temporal analyses of invertebrate population and biodiversity change: a comment on Seibold et al. 2019.
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Daskalova, Gergana N., Phillimore, Albert B., and Myers‐Smith, Isla H.
- Subjects
- *
INVERTEBRATE populations , *SAMPLING errors , *DEMOGRAPHIC change , *RANDOM effects model , *INVERTEBRATE communities - Abstract
An accumulating number of studies are reporting severe insect declines. These studies aim to quantify temporal changes in invertebrate populations and community composition and attribute them to anthropogenic drivers.Seibold et al. 2019 (Nature, 574, 671–674) analysed arthropod biomass, abundance and species richness from forest and grassland plots in a region of Germany and reported declines of up to 78% between 2008 and 2018. However, their analysis did not account for the confounding effects of temporal pseudoreplication.We show that simply by including a year random effect in the statistical models and thereby accounting for the common conditions experienced by proximal sites in the same years, four of the five reported declines become non‐significant out of six tests overall.To place recent estimates of insect trends in a broader context, we analysed invertebrate biomass, abundance and richness from 640 time series from 1167 sites around the world. We found that the average trends across the terrestrial and freshwater realms were not significantly distinguishable from no net change. Shorter time series that are likely most affected by sampling error variance – such as those in Seibold et al. 2019 (Nature, 574, 671–674) – yielded the most extreme decline and increase estimates.We suggest that the media uptake of negative trends from short time series may be serving to exaggerate the 'insect Armageddon' and could undermine public confidence in research. We advocate that future research uses appropriate model structures to build a more robust understanding of biodiversity change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2021
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
40. Collision between biological process and statistical analysis revealed by mean centring.
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Westneat, David F., Araya‐Ajoy, Yimen G., Allegue, Hassen, Class, Barbara, Dingemanse, Niels, Dochtermann, Ned A., Garamszegi, László Zsolt, Martin, Julien G. A., Nakagawa, Shinichi, Réale, Denis, Schielzeth, Holger, and Phillimore, Albert
- Subjects
STATISTICS ,QUANTITATIVE research ,ACQUISITION of data ,STATISTICAL models ,DATA analysis - Abstract
Animal ecologists often collect hierarchically structured data and analyse these with linear mixed‐effects models. Specific complications arise when the effect sizes of covariates vary on multiple levels (e.g. within vs. among subjects). Mean centring of covariates within subjects offers a useful approach in such situations, but is not without problems.A statistical model represents a hypothesis about the underlying biological process. Mean centring within clusters assumes that the lower level responses (e.g. within subjects) depend on the deviation from the subject mean (relative) rather than on the absolute scale of the covariate. This may or may not be biologically realistic. We show that mismatch between the nature of the generating (i.e. biological) process and the form of the statistical analysis produce major conceptual and operational challenges for empiricists.We explored the consequences of mismatches by simulating data with three response‐generating processes differing in the source of correlation between a covariate and the response. These data were then analysed by three different analysis equations. We asked how robustly different analysis equations estimate key parameters of interest and under which circumstances biases arise.Mismatches between generating and analytical equations created several intractable problems for estimating key parameters. The most widely misestimated parameter was the among‐subject variance in response. We found that no single analysis equation was robust in estimating all parameters generated by all equations. Importantly, even when response‐generating and analysis equations matched mathematically, bias in some parameters arose when sampling across the range of the covariate was limited.Our results have general implications for how we collect and analyse data. They also remind us more generally that conclusions from statistical analysis of data are conditional on a hypothesis, sometimes implicit, for the process(es) that generated the attributes we measure. We discuss strategies for real data analysis in face of uncertainty about the underlying biological process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2020
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
41. Temporal shifts and temperature sensitivity of avian spring migratory phenology:A phylogenetic meta-analysis
- Author
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Usui, Takuji, Butchart, Stuart H.M., and Phillimore, Albert
- Subjects
migratory phenology ,arrival date plasticity ,climate change ,plasticity ,bird migration timing - Abstract
There are wide reports of advances in the timing of spring migration of birds over time and in relation to rising temperatures, though phenological responses vary substantially within and among species. An understanding of the ecological, life-history and geographic variables that predict this intra- and inter-specific variation can guide our projections of how populations and species are likely to respond to future climate change.Here, we conduct phylogenetic meta-analyses addressing slope estimates of the timing of avian spring migration regressed on (i) year and (ii) temperature, representing a total of 413 species across five continents. We take into account slope estimation error and examine phylogenetic, ecological and geographic predictors of intra- and inter-specific variation.We confirm earlier findings that on average birds have significantly advanced their spring migration time by 2.1 days decade-1 and 1.2 days ºC-1. We find that over time and in response to warmer spring conditions short-distance migrants have advanced spring migratory phenology by more than long-distance migrants. We also find that larger bodied species show greater advance over time compared to smaller bodied species. Our results did not reveal any evidence that interspecific variation in migration response is predictable on the basis of species’ habitat or diet. We detected a substantial phylogenetic signal in migration time in response to both year and temperature, suggesting that some of the shifts in migratory phenological response to climate are predictable on the basis of phylogeny. However, we estimate high levels of species and spatial variance relative to phylogenetic variance, which is consistent with plasticity in response to climate evolving fairly rapidly and being more influenced by adaptation to current local climate than by common descent. On average, avian spring migration times have advanced over time and as spring has become warmer. While we are able to identify predictors that explain some of the true among-species variation in response, substantial intra- and inter-specific variation in migratory response remains to be explained.
- Published
- 2017
42. Estimating the ability of plants to plastically track temperature-mediated shifts in the spring phenological optimum
- Author
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Tansey, Christine, Hadfield, Jarrod, and Phillimore, Albert
- Subjects
forcing ,plasticity ,citizen science ,chilling ,photoperiod ,phenology ,space-for-time ,local adaptation - Abstract
One consequence of rising spring temperatures is that the optimum timing of key life history events may advance. Where this is the case, a population’s fate may depend on the degree to which it is able to track a change in the optimum timing either via plasticity or via adaptation. Estimating the effect that temperature change will have on optimum timing using standard approaches is logistically challenging, with the result that very few estimates of this important parameter exist. Here we adopt an alternative statistical method that substitutes space for time to estimate the temperature-sensitivity of the optimum timing of 22 plant species based on >200,000 spatiotemporal phenological observations from across the UK. We find that first leafing and flowering dates are sensitive to forcing (spring) temperatures, with optimum timing advancing by 3 days°C-1 and plastic responses to forcing between -3 and -8 days°C-1. Chilling (autumn/winter) temperatures and photoperiod tend to be important cues for species with early and late phenology respectively. For most species we find that plasticity is adaptive and for seven species plasticity is sufficient to track geographic variation in the optimum phenology. For four species we find that plasticity is significantly steeper than the optimum slope that we estimate between forcing temperature and phenology, and we examine possible explanations for this countergradient pattern, including local adaptation.
- Published
- 2017
43. Age‐dependent plasticity in reproductive investment, regeneration capacity and survival in a partially clonal animal (Hydra oligactis).
- Author
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Sebestyén, Flóra, Miklós, Máté, Iván, Katalin, Tökölyi, Jácint, and Phillimore, Albert
- Subjects
ASEXUAL reproduction ,GENITALIA ,GERM cells ,INTERSTITIAL cells ,MAINTENANCE costs ,SOMATIC embryogenesis ,ADENOMATOUS polyps - Abstract
Asexual reproduction diversifies life‐history priorities and is associated with unusual reproduction and somatic maintenance patterns, such as constant fertility with age, extensive regeneration ability and negligible senescence. While age‐dependent plasticity in relative allocation to sexual versus asexual reproductive modes is relatively well studied, the modulation of somatic maintenance traits in parallel with age‐dependent reproduction is much less well understood in clonal or partially clonal animals.Here, we asked how age‐dependent investment into sexual and asexual reproduction co‐varies with somatic maintenance such as regeneration in a partially clonal freshwater cnidarian Hydra oligactis, a species with remarkable regeneration abilities and experimentally inducible sex.We induced gametogenesis by lowering temperature at two ages, 1 or 4 weeks after detachment from an asexual parent, in animals of a male and a female clone. Then we measured phenotypically asexual and sexual reproductive traits (budding rate, start day and number of sexual organs) together with head regeneration rate, survival and the cellular background of these traits (number of reproductive and interstitial stem cells) for 2 or 5 months.Younger animals had higher asexual reproduction while individuals in the older group had more intensive gametogenesis and reproductive cell production. In parallel with these age‐dependent reproductive differences, somatic maintenance of older individuals was also impacted: head regeneration, survival and interstitial stem cell numbers were reduced compared to younger polyps. Some of the traits investigated showed an ontogenetic effect, suggesting that age‐dependent plasticity and a fixed ontogenetic response might both contribute to differences between age groups.We show that in H. oligactis asexual reproduction coupled with higher somatic maintenance is prioritized earlier in life, while sexual reproduction with higher maintenance costs occurs later if sex is induced. These findings confirm general life‐history theory predictions on resource allocation between somatic maintenance and sexual reproduction applying in a partially clonal species. At the same time, our study also highlights the age‐dependent integration of these resource allocation decisions with sexual/asexual strategies. Accounting for age‐related differences might enhance repeatability of research done with clonal individuals derived from mass cultures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2020
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
44. Large‐scale variation in birth timing and synchrony of a large herbivore along the latitudinal and altitudinal gradients.
- Author
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Peláez, Marta, Gaillard, Jean‐Michel, Bollmann, Kurt, Heurich, Marco, Rehnus, Maik, and Phillimore, Albert
- Subjects
BIRTH intervals ,PLANT phenology ,PARTURITION ,ROE deer ,SYNCHRONIC order ,HERBIVORES - Abstract
Hopkins' Bioclimatic Law predicts geographical patterns in phenological timing by establishing a correspondence between latitudinal and altitudinal gradients. First proposed for key phenological events of plants, such as leaf sprouting or flowering dates, this law has rarely been used to assess the geographical equivalence of key life‐history traits of mammals.We hypothesize that (H1) parturition dates of European roe deer Capreolus capreolus are delayed and more synchronized at higher latitudes and altitudes, (H2) parturition timing varies along latitudinal and altitudinal gradients in a way that matches the Hopkins' Bioclimatic Law and (H3) females adjust parturition timing to match the period of high energy demand with peak resource availability.We used parturition dates of 7,444 European roe deer from Switzerland to assess altitudinal variation in birth timing and synchrony from 288 to 2,366 m a.s.l. We then performed a literature survey to compare altitudinal results with those from different populations along the species' latitudinal range of distribution. Finally, we performed spatial analysis combining our highly resolved altitudinal data on parturition dates with plant phenology data.As expected, parturition dates were delayed with increasing latitude and altitude. This delay matched the Bioclimatic Law, as the effect of 1º increase in latitude was similar to 120 m increase in altitude. However, while parturitions were more synchronized with increasing altitude, we did not detect any trend along the latitudinal gradient. Finally, plant phenology explained altitudinal variation in parturition timing better than a linear effect of altitude.Our findings clearly demonstrate the ability of a large herbivore to match parturition timing with phenological conditions across the altitudinal gradient, even at the smallest spatial scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2020
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
45. Tree diversity effects through a temporal lens: Implications for the abundance, diversity and stability of foraging birds.
- Author
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May‐Uc, Yanely, Nell, Colleen S., Parra‐Tabla, Víctor, Navarro, Jorge, Abdala‐Roberts, Luis, and Phillimore, Albert
- Subjects
PLANT diversity ,BIRD habitats ,BIRD diversity ,BIRD surveys ,BIRDS ,BIRD ecology - Abstract
Tree diversity exerts a strong influence on consumer communities, but most work has involved single time point measurements over short time periods. Describing temporal variation associated with diversity effects over longer time periods is necessary to fully understand the effects of tree diversity on ecological function.We conducted a year‐long study in an experimental system in southern Mexico assessing the effects of tree diversity on the abundance and diversity of foraging birds. To this end, we recorded bird visitation patterns in 32 tree plots (21 × 21 m; 12 tree species monocultures, 20 four‐species polycultures) every 45 days (n = 8 surveys) and for each plot estimated bird abundance, richness, functional diversity (FD) and phylogenetic diversity (PD). In each case, we reported temporal (intra‐annual) variation in the magnitude of tree diversity effects, and calculated the temporal stability of these bird responses.Across surveys, tree diversity noticeably affected bird responses, demonstrated by significantly higher abundance (43%), richness (32%), PD (25%) and FD (25%) of birds visiting polyculture plots compared to monoculture plots, as well as a distinct species composition between plot types. We also found intra‐annual variation in tree diversity effects on these response variables, ranging from surveys for which the diversity effect was not significant to surveys where a significant 80% increase (e.g. for bird FD and PD) was observed in polyculture relative to monoculture plots. Notably, tree diversity increased the stability of all bird responses, with polycultures having a greater stability abundance (18%), richness (38%), PD (32%), and FD (35%) of birds visiting tree species polycultures compared to monocultures.These results show that tree diversity not only increases bird visitation to plots, but also stabilizes bird habitat usage over time in ways that could implicate insurance‐related mechanisms. Such findings are highly relevant for understanding the long‐term effects of plant diversity on vertebrates and the persistence of bird‐related ecosystem functions. More work is needed to unveil the ecological mechanisms behind temporal variation in vertebrate responses to tree diversity and their consequences for community structure and function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2020
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
46. Gradients in richness and turnover of a forest passerine's diet prior to breeding: A mixed model approach applied to faecal metabarcoding data.
- Author
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Shutt, Jack D., Nicholls, James A., Trivedi, Urmi H., Burgess, Malcolm D., Stone, Graham N., Hadfield, Jarrod D., and Phillimore, Albert B.
- Subjects
PREY availability ,BLUE tit ,NEST building ,BIRD breeding ,ANIMAL nutrition ,GENETIC barcoding - Abstract
Rather little is known about the dietary richness and variation of generalist insectivorous species, including birds, due primarily to difficulties in prey identification. Using faecal metabarcoding, we provide the most comprehensive analysis of a passerine's diet to date, identifying the relative magnitudes of biogeographic, habitat and temporal trends in the richness and turnover in diet of Cyanistes caeruleus (blue tit) along a 39 site and 2° latitudinal transect in Scotland. Faecal samples were collected in 2014–2015 from adult birds roosting in nestboxes prior to nest building. DNA was extracted from 793 samples and we amplified COI and 16S minibarcodes. We identified 432 molecular operational taxonomic units that correspond to putative dietary items. Most dietary items were rare, with Lepidoptera being the most abundant and taxon‐rich prey order. Here, we present a statistical approach for estimation of gradients and intersample variation in taxonomic richness and turnover using a generalised linear mixed model. We discuss the merits of this approach over existing tools and present methods for model‐based estimation of repeatability, taxon richness and Jaccard indices. We found that dietary richness increases significantly as spring advances, but changes little with elevation, latitude or local tree composition. In comparison, dietary composition exhibits significant turnover along temporal and spatial gradients and among sites. Our study shows the promise of faecal metabarcoding for inferring the macroecology of food webs, but we also highlight the challenge posed by contamination and make recommendations of laboratory and statistical practices to minimise its impact on inference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2020
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
47. Comparing two measures of phenological synchrony in a predator–prey interaction: Simpler works better.
- Author
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Ramakers, Jip J. C., Gienapp, Phillip, Visser, Marcel E., and Phillimore, Albert
- Subjects
PREDATION ,CLIMATE change ,PLANT phenology ,GREAT tit ,SYNCHRONIC order ,ANIMAL clutches ,PHENOLOGY - Abstract
Global climate change has sparked a vast research effort into the demographic and evolutionary consequences of mismatches between consumer and resource phenology. Many studies have used the difference in peak dates to quantify phenological synchrony (match in dates, MD), but this approach has been suggested to be inconclusive, since it does not incorporate the temporal overlap between the phenological distributions (match in overlap, MO).We used 24 years of detailed data on the phenology of a predator–prey system, the great tit (Parus major) and the main food for its nestlings, caterpillars, to estimate MD and MO at the population and brood levels. We compared the performance of both metrics on two key demographic parameters: offspring recruitment probability and selection on the timing of reproduction.Although MD and MO correlated quadratically as expected, MD was a better predictor for both offspring recruitment and selection on timing than MO. We argue—and verify through simulations—that this is because quantifying MO has to be based on nontrivial, difficult‐to‐verify assumptions that likely render MO too inaccurate as a proxy for food availability in practice.Our results have important implications for the allocation of research efforts in long‐term population studies in highly seasonal environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2020
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
48. A Spatial Perspective on the Phenological Distribution of the Spring Woodland Caterpillar Peak.
- Author
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Shutt, Jack D., Burgess, Malcolm D., and Phillimore, Albert B.
- Subjects
CATERPILLARS ,FORESTS & forestry ,PLANT phenology ,PASSERIFORMES ,FOREST birds - Abstract
A classic system for studying trophic mismatch focuses on the timing of the spring caterpillar peak in relation to the breeding time and productivity of woodland passerine birds. Most work has been conducted in single-site oak woodlands, and little is known about how insights generalize to other woodland types or across space. Here we present the results of a 3-year study on the species composition and temporal distribution of the spring caterpillar peak on different tree taxa across 40 woodland sites spanning 2° of latitude in Scotland. We used molecular barcoding to identify 62 caterpillar species, with winter moth (Operophtera brumata) being the most abundant, comprising one-third of the sample. Oak (Quercus sp.) and willow (Salix sp.) hosted significantly higher caterpillar abundances than other tree taxa, with winter moth exhibiting similar trends and invariantly proportionate across tree taxa. Caterpillar peak phenology was broadly similar between tree taxa. While latitude had little effect, increasing elevation increased the height of the caterpillar peak and retarded timing by 3.7 days per 100 m. These findings extend our understanding of how mismatch may play out spatially, with caterpillar peak date varying with elevation and tree taxa varying in the caterpillar resource that they host. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2019
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
49. Extensive range overlap between heliconiine sister species: evidence for sympatric speciation in butterflies?
- Author
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Rosser, Neil, Kozak, Krzysztof M., Phillimore, Albert B., Mallet, James, and Apollo - University of Cambridge Repository
- Subjects
Simulations ,Databases, Factual ,Ecology ,Genetic Speciation ,Climate ,Age-range correlation ,Biodiversity ,Sympatry ,Ecological speciation ,Geography of speciation ,FOS: Biological sciences ,Animals ,Wings, Animal ,Computer Simulation ,Butterflies ,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics ,Phylogeny - Abstract
BackgroundSympatric speciation is today generally viewed as plausible, and some well-supported examples exist, but its relative contribution to biodiversity remains to be established. We here quantify geographic overlap of sister species of heliconiine butterflies, and use age-range correlations and spatial simulations of the geography of speciation to infer the frequency of sympatric speciation. We also test whether shifts in mimetic wing colour pattern, host plant use and climate niche play a role in speciation, and whether such shifts are associated with sympatry.ResultsApproximately a third of all heliconiine sister species pairs exhibit near complete range overlap, and analyses of the observed patterns of range overlap suggest that sympatric speciation contributes 32 %–95 % of speciation events. Müllerian mimicry colour patterns and host plant choice are highly labile traits that seem to be associated with speciation, but we find no association between shifts in these traits and range overlap. In contrast, climatic niches of sister species are more conserved.ConclusionsUnlike birds and mammals, sister species of heliconiines are often sympatric and our inferences using the most recent comparative methods suggest that sympatric speciation is common. However, if sister species spread rapidly into sympatry (e.g. due to their similar climatic niches), then assumptions underlying our methods would be violated. Furthermore, although we find some evidence for the role of ecology in speciation, ecological shifts did not show the associations with range overlap expected under sympatric speciation. We delimit species of heliconiines in three different ways, based on “strict and ” “relaxed” biological species concepts (BSC), as well as on a surrogate for the widely-used “diagnostic” version of the phylogenetic species concept (PSC). We show that one reason why more sympatric speciation is inferred in heliconiines than in birds may be due to a different culture of species delimitation in the two groups. To establish whether heliconiines are exceptional will require biogeographic comparative studies for a wider range of animal taxa including many more invertebrates.
- Published
- 2016
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
50. Passerines may be sufficiently plastic to track temperature-mediated shifts in optimum lay date
- Author
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Phillimore, Albert, Leech, David I., Pearce-Higgins, James W., and Hadfield, Jarrod
- Abstract
Projecting the fates of populations under climate change is one of global change biology’s foremost challenges. Here we seek to identify the contributions that temperature-mediated local adaptation and plasticity make to spatial variation in British bird nesting phenology, a phenotypic trait showing strong responses to warming. We apply a mixed modeling framework to a Britain-wide spatiotemporal dataset comprising >100,000 records of first egg dates from four single-brooded passerine bird species. The average temperature during a specific time period (sliding-window) strongly predicts spatiotemporal variation in lay date. All four species exhibit phenological plasticity, advancing lay date by 2–5 days°C-1. The initiation of this sliding-window is delayed further north, which may be a response to a photoperiod threshold. Using clinal trends in phenology and temperature we are able to estimate the temperature sensitivity of selection on lay date (B), but our estimates are highly sensitive to the temporal position of the sliding-window. If the sliding-window is of fixed duration with a start date determined by photoperiod we find B is tracked by phenotypic plasticity. If, instead, we allow the start and duration of the sliding-window to change with latitude, we find plasticity does not track B, though at odds with theoretical expectations, our estimates of B differ across latitude versus longitude. We argue that a model combining photoperiod and mean temperature is most consistent with current understanding of phenological cues in passerines, the results of which suggest that each species could respond to projected increases in spring temperatures through plasticity alone. However, our estimates of B require further validation.
- Published
- 2016
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