Abstract
Strong differences in life history occur between temperate and tropical birds, with tropical birds generally having a longer lifespan, higher nest predation, smaller clutch size, and an overall slower “pace of life.” While there has been some historical debate about how strong these latitudinal differences are, the debate now centers around why this suite of traits evolved in tropical birds. Long-term studies have shown that tropical birds have higher adult survival, but we do not understand what drives between-individual, or between-species, differences in survival rate. Similarly, nest predation rates are shocking high (> 80%) in many tropical passerines, but we do not know who the predators are, and so cannot explain differences in predation risk among population and species. Tropical birds have a smaller clutch size than temperate zone birds, and there are many hypotheses to explain this including lower food availability, higher nest predation, and higher juvenile survival. Although few field experiments (e.g., clutch size manipulations and food manipulations) have been performed with tropical birds, an emerging theme is that low clutch size may increase the body condition of young when they leave the nest, thereby increasing fledgling and juvenile survival.
Published Version
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call