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dc.contributor.authorBarshep, Y.
dc.contributor.authorAwoyemi, A.G.
dc.contributor.authorAbalaka, J.
dc.contributor.authorOttosson, U.
dc.date.accessioned2022-07-04T11:34:15Z
dc.date.available2022-07-04T11:34:15Z
dc.date.issued2022
dc.identifier.citationBarshep, Y., Awoyemi, A.G., Abalaka, J. & Ottosson, U. (2022). Bergmann's rule holds in birds inhabiting southern Guinea forests but not in the northern Savanna of Nigeria. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 10: 741755, 1-7.
dc.identifier.issn2296-701X
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12478/7535
dc.description.abstractThe Bergmann’s rule predicts that in endotherms, body sizes will differ with respect to thermal gradients. Larger bodied individuals will inhabit colder environments while in warmer environments, individuals will be smaller-bodied. This hypothesis has been proved and disproved many times due to inconsistencies in body size differences along latitudinal gradients. We tested this hypothesis in 30 Afrotropical resident bird species inhabiting two vegetation types at different latitudes (southern guinea forests and northern savanna) and at different altitudes in Nigeria, West Africa. Using principal component analyses of body mass and wing length, the first principal component, the component of size, indicated that individuals in montane areas were larger than lowland populations in southern guinea forests. However, in the northern guinea savanna, there was no significant difference in body sizes between lowland and montane populations. General linear models show that body size increases as temperature decreases. In species found in both southern guinea forests and northern savanna (i.e., African Thrush Turdus pelios and Snowy-crowned Robin Chat Cossypha niveicapilla), variations in body sizes were significantly dependent on sites. Our study indicates that other macroscale factors such as vegetation and rainfall patterns might modulate conformity to Bergmann’s rule in Afrotropical environments.
dc.description.sponsorshipLeventis Foundation
dc.format.extent1-7
dc.language.isoen
dc.subjectBirds
dc.subjectForests
dc.subjectNigeria
dc.titleBergmann's rule holds in birds inhabiting southern Guinea forests but not in the northern Savanna of Nigeria
dc.typeJournal Article
cg.contributor.affiliationA.P. Leventis Ornithological Research Institute, Nigeria
cg.contributor.affiliationInternational Institute of Tropical Agriculture
cg.coverage.regionAfrica
cg.coverage.regionWest Africa
cg.coverage.countryNigeria
cg.coverage.hubHeadquarters and Western Africa Hub
cg.identifier.bibtexciteidBARSHEP:2022
cg.isijournalISI Journal
cg.authorship.typesCGIAR and developing country institute
cg.iitasubjectBiodiversity
cg.journalFrontiers in Ecology and Evolution
cg.notesOpen Access Journal; Published online: 09 Jun 2022
cg.accessibilitystatusOpen Access
cg.reviewstatusPeer Review
cg.usagerightslicenseCreative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 0.0)
cg.targetaudienceScientists
cg.identifier.doihttps://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2022.741755
cg.futureupdate.requiredNo
cg.identifier.issue741755
cg.identifier.volume10
cg.contributor.acknowledgementsWe would like to thank visiting researchers, colleagues and staff at A.P. Leventis Ornithological Research Institute, and at IITA, who were part of the trapping and ringing of birds at the four different localities. This contribution no. 210 from A.P. Leventis Ornithological Research Institute. We would also like to thank bird ring staff and visiting researchers at the A.P. Leventis Ornithological Research Institute for help in the field capturing and sampling the individual birds.


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