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    Rights statement: © 2014 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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Adaptive latitudinal variation in Common Blackbird Turdus merula nest characteristics

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Adaptive latitudinal variation in Common Blackbird Turdus merula nest characteristics. / Mainwaring, Mark C.; Deeming, D. Charles; Jones, Chris I. et al.
In: Ecology and Evolution, Vol. 4, No. 6, 03.2014, p. 841-851.

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Mainwaring MC, Deeming DC, Jones CI, Hartley IR. Adaptive latitudinal variation in Common Blackbird Turdus merula nest characteristics. Ecology and Evolution. 2014 Mar;4(6):841-851. Epub 2014 Feb 21. doi: 10.1002/ece3.952

Author

Mainwaring, Mark C. ; Deeming, D. Charles ; Jones, Chris I. et al. / Adaptive latitudinal variation in Common Blackbird Turdus merula nest characteristics. In: Ecology and Evolution. 2014 ; Vol. 4, No. 6. pp. 841-851.

Bibtex

@article{966402d08e0343eaabc4c71aca876fb9,
title = "Adaptive latitudinal variation in Common Blackbird Turdus merula nest characteristics",
abstract = "Nest construction is taxonomically widespread, yet our understanding of adaptive intraspecific variation in nest design remains poor. Nest characteristics are expected to vary adaptively in response to predictable variation in spring temperatures over large spatial scales, yet such variation in nest design remains largely overlooked, particularly amongst open-cup-nesting birds. Here, we systematically examined the effects of latitudinal variation in spring temperatures and precipitation on the morphology, volume, composition, and insulatory properties of open-cup-nesting Common Blackbirds' Turdus merula nests to test the hypothesis that birds living in cooler environments at more northerly latitudes would build better insulated nests than conspecifics living in warmer environments at more southerly latitudes. As spring temperatures increased with decreasing latitude, the external diameter of nests decreased. However, as nest wall thickness also decreased, there was no variation in the diameter of the internal nest cups. Only the mass of dry grasses within nests decreased with warmer temperatures at lower latitudes. The insulatory properties of nests declined with warmer temperatures at lower latitudes and nests containing greater amounts of dry grasses had higher insulatory properties. The insulatory properties of nests decreased with warmer temperatures at lower latitudes, via changes in morphology (wall thickness) and composition (dry grasses). Meanwhile, spring precipitation did not vary with latitude, and none of the nest characteristics varied with spring precipitation. This suggests that Common Blackbirds nesting at higher latitudes were building nests with thicker walls in order to counteract the cooler temperatures. We have provided evidence that the nest construction behavior of open-cup-nesting birds systematically varies in response to large-scale spatial variation in spring temperatures.",
keywords = "Insulation quality, latitude, nest composition, nest size, spring temperature, Turdus merula, TITS CYANISTES-CAERULEUS, GEOGRAPHIC-VARIATION, BLUE TIT, PREDATION, TEMPERATURE, INCUBATION, INSULATION, DESIGN, BIRDS, SIZE",
author = "Mainwaring, {Mark C.} and Deeming, {D. Charles} and Jones, {Chris I.} and Hartley, {Ian R.}",
note = "{\textcopyright} 2014 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.",
year = "2014",
month = mar,
doi = "10.1002/ece3.952",
language = "English",
volume = "4",
pages = "841--851",
journal = "Ecology and Evolution",
issn = "2045-7758",
publisher = "John Wiley and Sons Ltd",
number = "6",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - Adaptive latitudinal variation in Common Blackbird Turdus merula nest characteristics

AU - Mainwaring, Mark C.

AU - Deeming, D. Charles

AU - Jones, Chris I.

AU - Hartley, Ian R.

N1 - © 2014 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

PY - 2014/3

Y1 - 2014/3

N2 - Nest construction is taxonomically widespread, yet our understanding of adaptive intraspecific variation in nest design remains poor. Nest characteristics are expected to vary adaptively in response to predictable variation in spring temperatures over large spatial scales, yet such variation in nest design remains largely overlooked, particularly amongst open-cup-nesting birds. Here, we systematically examined the effects of latitudinal variation in spring temperatures and precipitation on the morphology, volume, composition, and insulatory properties of open-cup-nesting Common Blackbirds' Turdus merula nests to test the hypothesis that birds living in cooler environments at more northerly latitudes would build better insulated nests than conspecifics living in warmer environments at more southerly latitudes. As spring temperatures increased with decreasing latitude, the external diameter of nests decreased. However, as nest wall thickness also decreased, there was no variation in the diameter of the internal nest cups. Only the mass of dry grasses within nests decreased with warmer temperatures at lower latitudes. The insulatory properties of nests declined with warmer temperatures at lower latitudes and nests containing greater amounts of dry grasses had higher insulatory properties. The insulatory properties of nests decreased with warmer temperatures at lower latitudes, via changes in morphology (wall thickness) and composition (dry grasses). Meanwhile, spring precipitation did not vary with latitude, and none of the nest characteristics varied with spring precipitation. This suggests that Common Blackbirds nesting at higher latitudes were building nests with thicker walls in order to counteract the cooler temperatures. We have provided evidence that the nest construction behavior of open-cup-nesting birds systematically varies in response to large-scale spatial variation in spring temperatures.

AB - Nest construction is taxonomically widespread, yet our understanding of adaptive intraspecific variation in nest design remains poor. Nest characteristics are expected to vary adaptively in response to predictable variation in spring temperatures over large spatial scales, yet such variation in nest design remains largely overlooked, particularly amongst open-cup-nesting birds. Here, we systematically examined the effects of latitudinal variation in spring temperatures and precipitation on the morphology, volume, composition, and insulatory properties of open-cup-nesting Common Blackbirds' Turdus merula nests to test the hypothesis that birds living in cooler environments at more northerly latitudes would build better insulated nests than conspecifics living in warmer environments at more southerly latitudes. As spring temperatures increased with decreasing latitude, the external diameter of nests decreased. However, as nest wall thickness also decreased, there was no variation in the diameter of the internal nest cups. Only the mass of dry grasses within nests decreased with warmer temperatures at lower latitudes. The insulatory properties of nests declined with warmer temperatures at lower latitudes and nests containing greater amounts of dry grasses had higher insulatory properties. The insulatory properties of nests decreased with warmer temperatures at lower latitudes, via changes in morphology (wall thickness) and composition (dry grasses). Meanwhile, spring precipitation did not vary with latitude, and none of the nest characteristics varied with spring precipitation. This suggests that Common Blackbirds nesting at higher latitudes were building nests with thicker walls in order to counteract the cooler temperatures. We have provided evidence that the nest construction behavior of open-cup-nesting birds systematically varies in response to large-scale spatial variation in spring temperatures.

KW - Insulation quality

KW - latitude

KW - nest composition

KW - nest size

KW - spring temperature

KW - Turdus merula

KW - TITS CYANISTES-CAERULEUS

KW - GEOGRAPHIC-VARIATION

KW - BLUE TIT

KW - PREDATION

KW - TEMPERATURE

KW - INCUBATION

KW - INSULATION

KW - DESIGN

KW - BIRDS

KW - SIZE

U2 - 10.1002/ece3.952

DO - 10.1002/ece3.952

M3 - Journal article

VL - 4

SP - 841

EP - 851

JO - Ecology and Evolution

JF - Ecology and Evolution

SN - 2045-7758

IS - 6

ER -