Abstract
The body condition is an important metric for measuring an individuals’ morphological, biochemical, and physiological status. It may be influenced by several factors, such as the incidence of parasites, age, sex and climate. Therefore, we aimed to study the relationship between body condition, measured through the scaled-mass index, climate, altitude, sex, and age in Chiroxiphia caudata. We gathered data collected from 2001 to 2017, in five different Brazilian states: Santa Catarina, Paraná, Minas Gerais, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. We found that juvenile males had an increased body condition when compared to females, whereas when they reached adulthood, this relationship is inverted with females having a much higher scaled-mass index (SMI) compared to males. We also found a significant tendency of the SMI to decrease over time, and we suggest that such happening may be related to extreme and frequent events taking place in the region, such as intense droughts, habitat loss and the expansion of the agricultural land use. Finally, we found that the mean annual temperature exhibited a negative relationship with variation in SMI. Therefore, individuals coming from colder places needed to have an extra layer of fat to cope with the cold. In conclusion, our results show important within species variability, which may direct conservation effort priorities and raise consciousness for other researchers using publicly available data, since there should be an inherent spatial–temporal variability.
Zusammenfassung
Geschlecht, Alter, mittlere Jahrestemperatur und Jahr sagen die körperliche Verfassung von Blaubrustpipra Chiroxiphia caudata (Passeriformes: Pipridae) voraus.
Die körperliche Verfassung ist ein wichtiges Maß für die Ermittlung des morphologischen, biochemischen und physiologischen Zustands eines Individuums. Sie kann durch verschiedene Faktoren wie z. B. das Vorkommen von Parasiten, Alter, Geschlecht und Klima beeinflusst werden. Deshalb wollten wir bei Chiroxiphia caudata mögliche Zusammenhänge zwischen der körperlichen Verfassung, gemessen mithilfe des skalierten Masseindex, dem Klima, der Meereshöhe, dem Geschlecht und dem Alter untersuchen. Wir sammelten Daten, die zwischen 2001 und 2017 in fünf verschiedenen brasilianischen Bundesstaaten erhoben wurden: Santa Catarina, Paraná, Minas Gerais, São Paulo und Rio de Janeiro, und fanden, dass männliche Jungtiere im Vergleich zu weiblichen Tieren in besserer körperlicher Verfassung waren, während sich dieses Verhältnis im Erwachsenenalter umkehrte und die Weibchen einen wesentlich höheren relativen Massenindex (scaled-mass index, SMI) als die Männchen aufwiesen. Wir fanden außerdem eine eindeutige Tendenz des SMI, im Laufe der Zeit abzunehmen und vermuten, dass dies mit 26 extremen und häufigen Ereignissen in der Region zusammenhängen könnte, wie z. B. intensiven Dürren, Verlust des Lebensraums sowie der Ausweitung der landwirtschaftlichen Nutzung von Flächen. Schließlich stellten wir fest, dass die mittlere Jahrestemperatur einen negativen Zusammenhang mit den Schwankungen des SMI aufwies. Tiere aus kälteren Gegenden brauchten eine zusätzliche Fettschicht, um mit der Kälte fertig zu werden. Zusammenfassend lässt sich sagen, dass unsere Ergebnisse eine erhebliche Variabilität innerhalb der Art zeigten, was Prioritäten bei den Schutzmaßnahmen aufzeigen und das Bewusstsein anderer Forscher für die Verwendung öffentlich zugänglicher Daten schärfen könnte, um eine natürliche räumlich-zeitliche Vielfalt herzustellen.
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Availability of data and materials
The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request, as well as from the cited literature (Rodrigues et al. 2019).
Code availability
The code in R software may be provided upon request to the corresponding author.
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Acknowledgements
VAP and RER thank the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior and Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico for the scholarship provided during the research period, respectively. This manuscript complies with the Brazilian law of scientific research.
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VAP and RER thank the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior and Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico for the scholarship provided during the research period, respectively.
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de Souza Penha, V.A., da Silva Rodrigues, R. Sex, age, mean annual temperature and year predict the body condition in Chiroxiphia caudata (Passeriformes: Pipridae). J Ornithol 163, 445–456 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-021-01947-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-021-01947-0