RT Journal Article
T1 Body size as a mediator of climatic effects: Insights from a long‐term study of social Iberian magpies
A1 Avilés, Jesús M.
A1 De la Cruz, Carlos
A1 González Medina, Erick
A1 Villegas, Auxiliadora
A1 Valencia, Juliana
A1 Masero, José A.
AB The importance of considering body size in assessing evolutionary responses to climatic change is increasingly recognized, as body size correlates with morphological, physiological, and ecological traits that are climate-sensitive and influence fitness. However, the role of body size in mediating climatic effects in vertebrates remains poorly understood. Here, we examined structural body-size responses to natal and adult-experienced climate in a social bird and assessed whether body size mediates the direction of climatic effects. Using 26 years of data on cooperatively breeding Iberian magpies Cyanopica cooki, we found that adult males reared in late spring nests were smaller than those hatched earlier in the breeding season. This pattern was driven by smaller females, which reproduced later and produced smaller sons. Larger males born in hottest years had lower lifetime fledgling production, while larger males experiencing hotter springs as adults produced more fledglings over their lifetime. Additionally, larger males born in driest years or raised in nests with many brood mates had shorter lifespans. Despite a significant increase in temperature in the study area over 26 years, the average tarsus length of males has not changed, likely due to opposing effects of natal and adult climate on body size. Our findings illustrate how inherited body size mediates climatic effects at different life stages, with these effects acting in contrasting directions on fecundity, resulting in apparent trait stasis despite ongoing climate warming.
SN 0012-9658
YR 2025
FD 2025-06
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/123073
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/123073
LA eng
NO Avilés, Jesús M., Carlos de la Cruz, Erick González-Medina, Auxiliadora Villegas, Juliana Valencia, and José A. Masero. 2025. “ Body Size as a Mediator of Climatic Effects: Insights from a Long-Term Study of Social Iberian Magpies.” Ecology 106(6): e70130. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.70130
NO This study was supported by the Government of Extremadura, cofinanced by FEDER Funds through the projects IPR99A020, 2PR02A080, and PRI09A057 to Carlos de la Cruz and IB18089 to Auxiliadora Villegas.
NO Junta de Extremadura
NO European Commission
DS Docta Complutense
RD 25 dic 2025