Warmer, drier conditions linked to declining body condition in European robins, study finds
A 15-year study of European robins found that warmer minimum temperatures and low soil moisture during breeding season are associated with reduced body condition, particularly in adult males and juveniles. The research analyzed data from 2007-2021 to identify critical environmental windows affecting bird physiology across different ages and sexes. The findings suggest climate change may reduce robin survival and population viability through effects on body condition, though earlier breeding dates could partially offset these impacts.
Researchers analyzed 15 years of monitoring data from a European robin population to understand how environmental conditions during breeding season affect body condition—a key indicator of bird health and survival. Using weather sliding-window analyses, they identified that body condition declined with increasing minimum temperatures in adult males and juveniles, and with low soil moisture in adults of both sexes. The study found that effects varied by age and sex, with adult males showing particularly strong responses to rising temperatures during the post-fledging period. While the researchers could not identify reliable short-term environmental windows explaining within-individual changes in body condition over two-week periods, they documented long-term trends showing declining body condition in adult males alongside advancing fledging dates from 2007-2021. Importantly, body condition was positively associated with apparent survival only in juvenile robins, suggesting reduced body condition may have demographic consequences for population persistence.
Limitations & open questions
The study's own limitations include: inability to identify reliable critical time windows for short-term within-individual body condition changes; potential confounding variables not measured; and the generalizability of findings from a single monitored population to broader European robin populations or other species.
What different sources said
- bioRxivCenter
Sex- and age-specific body condition decline under warmer and drier breeding conditions in European robins
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