Long-Term Variability of Wing Length in a Population of the Reed Warbler<i>Acrocephalus scirpaceus</i>

Nowakowski, Jacek J.

doi:10.3161/068.035.0210

Cited by 23 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…Selection on morphological components has been demonstrated to occur in a wide range of organisms (Endler, 1986;Fairbairn and Reeve, 2001;Kingsolver et al, 2001) and in various species of birds (Holland and Yalden, 1995;Brown and Brown, 1998;Larsson et al, 1998;Merila et al, 1999;Balmford et al, 2000;Barbraud, 2000;Nowakowski, 2000;Przybylo et al, 2000), including barn swallows (M ller, 1993;M ller and Tegelstrom, 1997;M ller et al, 1998;Brown and Brown, 1999). In Nebraska, a period of severe weather resulted in size-related mortality of barn swallows (Brown and Brown, 1999) indicating that, as with other bird species natural selection acts upon at least some morphological components.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Geographic variation in the G matrices of wild populations of the barn swallow

et al. 2004

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In this paper, we present an analysis of genetic variation in three wild populations of the barn swallow, Hirundo rustica. We estimated the P, E, and G matrices for six linear morphological measurements and tested for variation among populations using the Flury hierarchical method and the jackknife followed by MANOVA method. Because of nonpositive-definite matrices, we had to employ 'bending' to analyse the G and E matrices with the Flury method. Both statistical methods agree in finding that the P and G matrices are significantly different but comparison between the analysis of the P matrices and pairwise analyses of the P, E, and G matrices suggests caution in interpreting the Flury results concerning differences in matrix structure. The significant variation among the populations in the G matrices appears to be due in large measure to the most geographically distant population.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Geographic variation in the G matrices of wild populations of the barn swallow

et al. 2004

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“…Furthermore, it is shown that results from one study site will cause spurious results when applied at another study site for a variety of mutually non-exclusive reasons. As morphology of species at a given site may also vary with time (Nowakowski 2000;Salewski et al 2009), we recommend the use of morphological sex differentiation methods similar to this study only on a population specific basis, only with one age cohort, and only to birds at the same stage of feather wear (feathers in spring may be more worn compared to feathers in autumn or vice versa) and to adjust the extracted equations from time to time. …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Morphological sexing of passerines: not valid over larger geographical scales

2009

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Sex determination of birds is important for many ecological studies but is often difficult in species with monomorphic plumage. Morphology often provides a possibility for sex determination, but the characters need to be verified. We tested whether five passerine species can be sexed according to standard morphological measurements applying a forward logistic regression with sex determined by molecular analysis as the dependent variable. Furthermore, we tested whether the results can be used on a larger geographic scale by applying morphological sexing methods gained by similar studies from other regions to our data set. Of the five species of this study only Garden Warblers Sylvia borin could not be sexed morphologically. In the Robin Erithacus rubecula, 87.2% of all individuals were sexed correctly. For Reed Warblers Acrocephalus scirpaceus, Willow Warblers Phylloscopus trochilus and Reed Buntings Emberiza schoeniclus, the respective values were 77.6, 89.4 and 86.4%. When the logistic regression functions from similar studies on Robins and Reed Buntings in Denmark and Scotland were applied to the birds from south-western Germany, they performed less well compared to the original dataset of these studies and compared to the logistic regression function of our own study. The same was the case for Willow Warblers when a wing length criterion used in Great Britain was applied to the birds of our study. These discrepancies may have several explanations: (1) the models are optimised for the dataset from which they were extracted, (2) inter-ringer variation in measurements, (3) the use of different age cohorts, (4) different morphology due to different habitat availability around the study site, or, most likely, (5) different morphology due to different migratory behaviour. We recommend that morphological sex differentiation methods similar to this study (1) be only used population specific, (2) only with one age cohort and (3) to adjust the extracted equations from time to time.

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“…positive correlation in Gray Jays (Perisoreus -Jakubas et al 2011). In general, relatively longer wings can increase flight efficiency (Lockwood et al 1998); many species, especially in migratory or insectivorous birds, are characterized by long wings for gliding and soaring in strong air currents (Landmann and Winding 1995;Lockwood et al 1998;Nowakowski 2000). Given that little information is available on the effects of WS and flight ability for this sedentary passerine bird, further investigation of such interspecific and gender differences in flight efficiency are needed to clarify the inconsistent results.…”

Section: Geographic and Climatic Variation In Body Mass And Wing Lengthmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of climate factors in geographic variation in body mass and wing length in a passerine bird

Sun

Song

et al. 2017

Avian Res

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Background: Geographic variation in body size is assumed to reflect adaptation to local environmental conditions. Although Bergmann's rule is usually sufficient to explain such variation in homeotherms, some exceptions have been documented. The relationship between altitude, latitude and body size, has been well documented for some vertebrate taxa during the past decades. However, relatively little information is available on the effects of climate variables on body size in birds. Methods:We collected the data of 267 adult Eurasian Tree Sparrow (Passer montanus) specimens sampled at 48 localities in China's mainland, and further investigated the relationships between two response variables, body mass and wing length, as well as a suit of explanatory variables, i.e. altitude, latitude, mean annual temperature (MAT), annual precipitation (PRC), annual sunshine hours (SUN), average annual wind speed (WS), air pressure (AP) and relative humidity (RH). Results:Our study showed that (1) although the sexes did not differ significantly in body mass, males had longer wings than females; (2) body mass and wing length were positively correlated with altitude but not with latitude; (3) body mass and wing length were negatively correlated with AP and RH, but not significantly correlated with WS. Body mass was positively correlated with SUN and inversely correlated with MAT. Wing length was not correlated with MAT in either sex, but was positively correlated with SUN and negatively correlated with PRC in male sparrows; (4) variation in body mass could be best explained by AP and SUN, whereas variation in wing length could be explained by RH and AP in both sexes. In addition, variation in male sparrows can be explained by SUN, WS and PRC but not in females. Conclusions:Two different proxies of body size, body mass and wing length, correlated with same geographic factors and different climate factors. These differences may reflect selection for heat conservation in the case of body mass, and for efficient flight in the case of wing length.

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Long-Term Variability of Wing Length in a Population of the Reed WarblerAcrocephalus scirpaceus

Cited by 23 publications

References 32 publications

Geographic variation in the G matrices of wild populations of the barn swallow

Geographic variation in the G matrices of wild populations of the barn swallow

Morphological sexing of passerines: not valid over larger geographical scales

The role of climate factors in geographic variation in body mass and wing length in a passerine bird

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