Local weather conditions have complex effects on the growth of blue tit nestlings |
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| Affiliation: | 1. School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA;2. The Roslin Institute & Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, University of Edinburgh, Roslin, Midlothian EH25 9PS, UK;3. Laboratory of Integrative Brain Sciences, Department of Biology and Center for Medical Life Science, Waseda University, Tokyo 162-8480, Japan;1. Zoology and Entomology Department, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa;2. Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa;1. Laboratory of Forest Biology, Wrocław University, Sienkiewicza 21, 50 335 Wrocław, Poland;2. Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Maclean Building, Benson Lane, Crowmarsh Gifford, Wallingford, Oxfordshire OX10 8BB, UK;1. Department of Animal Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), Wageningen, the Netherlands;2. Department of Biology, University of Nevada, Reno, Reno, NV, U.S.A.;3. Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Radolfzell, Germany;4. Behavioural Ecology Group, Animal Sciences, University of Wageningen, Wageningen, the Netherlands;1. Área de Zoología, Departamento de Ciencias Ambientales, Facultad de Ciencias del Medio Ambiente, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, Avenida Carlos III, s/n, E-45071, Toledo, Spain;2. Grupo de Investigación de la Biodiversidad Genética y Cultural, Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos IREC (CSIC-UCLM-JCCM), Ronda de Toledo s/n, 13071, Ciudad Real, Spain;3. Departamento de Ecología Evolutiva, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (CSIC), C/ José 13 Gutiérrez Abascal 2, 28006, Madrid, Spain;1. Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Division of Conservation Biology, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland;2. Swiss Ornithological Institute, Field Station Valais, Sion, Switzerland |
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| Abstract: | Adverse weather conditions are expected to result in impaired nestling development in birds, but empirical studies have provided equivocal support for such a relationship. This may be because the negative effects of adverse weather conditions are masked by parental effects. Globally, ambient temperatures, rainfall levels and wind speeds are all expected to increase in a changing climate and so there is a need for a better understanding of the relationship between weather conditions and nestling growth. Here, we describe a correlative study that examined the relationships between local temperatures, rainfall levels and wind speeds and the growth of individual blue tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) nestlings in relation to their hatching order and sex. We found that changes in a range of morphological characters were negatively related to both temperature and wind speed, but positively related to rainfall. These patterns were further influenced by the hatching order of the nestlings but not by nestling sex. This suggests that the predicted changes in local weather conditions may have complex effects on nestling growth, but that parents may be able to mitigate the adverse effects via adaptive parental effects. We therefore conclude that local weather conditions have complex effects on avian growth and the implications for patterns of avian growth in a changing climate are discussed. |
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| Keywords: | Blue tit Development Maternal effects Rainfall Temperature Weather Wind speed |
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