Research Offers Insights into Birds' Response to Global Environmental Changes
The study, led by New Zealanders and published in Science, found birds will often eat fruits that match their beak size when they are near the limits of where they live, where conditions tend to be more challenging.
The international team said their findings provide insights into how these birds might respond to global environmental changes, which are forcing many to live near or outside where they have historically inhabited.
The research looked at 97 bird species and the more than 800 plants they eat from across six continents worldwide.
The findings may help explain geographic variation in species' fitness and are important for accurately predicting species' responses to continued environmental change.
The study shows environmental stress can force species to alter their diet in ways that are not optimal.
The team led by Lucas Martins, post-doctoral fellow of the School of Biological Sciences of the University of Canterbury, investigated how fruit-eating birds vary their use of different resources across their ranges.
"This suggests that birds may be more strongly forced to select the 'ideal' fruit size where stress and energetic demands are higher," Martins said.
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