Sex-speciffc selective effect of winter weather on morphological traits in a small passerine bird

作     者：Yue Wang Qian Hu Jiliang Xu Jianqiang Li Yue Wang;Qian Hu;Jiliang Xu;Jianqiang Li

作者机构：School of Ecology and Nature ConservationBeijing Forestry UniversityBeijingChina 

出 版 物：《Avian Research》 (鸟类学研究（英文版）)

年 卷 期：2023年第14卷第2期

页      面：166-173页

核心收录：

学科分类：0710[理学-生物学] 07[理学] 071002[理学-动物学] 

基　　金：supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(31970421 31472011 31101644) 

主　　题：Aegithalos glaucogularis Age Morphological traits Natural selection Overwinter survival Sex-specific selection 

摘      要：Harsh environmental conditions often impose strong selection on the phenotype of natural populations through impacts on their *** overwintering birds,winter is an important period for survival because the weather conditions in winter is usually severer than in other seasons and birds often suffer more thermoregulation costs while food is in short ***,the selective effect of weather conditions on phenotype in winter is expected to be *** this study,we examined the relationship of overwinter survival of Silver-throated Tits(Aegithalos glaucogularis)with their morphological traits under different levels of winter conditions(winters with and without snowstorms)to explore the differential selective effect of winter weather on their *** found that regardless of whether the winter experienced a snowstorm,the female Silver-throated Tits with a smaller bill surface area or smaller bill depth and a smaller surface area:volume ratio were more likely to survive during the winter,which supported the hypothesis of selection for heat ***,the females with a smaller body length survived better than the larger females,indicating that the lesser food requirements for smaller body sizes may confer advantages during the winter when food availability was *** addition,in agreement with the finding in many short-lived birds that survival rate increases with the increase of age,older(≥2-year-old)female Silver-throated Tits had higher overwinter survival than 1-year-old ***,we did not find any correlation of morphological traits and age with survival in male Silver-throated *** results illustrate differential selective effects of winter weather on female and male Silver-throated Tits and contribute to the knowledge of sex-specific selection on the phenotype of natural populations.