Moriarty Science Seminar: Tandem Effects of Changes in Both Climate and Land Use on Body Size

R.W. Moriarty Science Seminar Presents: Tandem Effects of Changes in Both Climate and Land Use on Body Size

Speaker: Amanda Martin

Alterations in body size, a fundamental ecological trait, can have profound impacts on an organism’s life history and ecology with long-lasting effects that span multiple biological scales. Increased warming from climate change has led to smaller body size due to impacts on growth (i.e., Bergmann’s rule and temperature-size rule), but several exceptions exist. The impacts of land use change may offer an explanation as why not all animals are getting smaller in response to climate change. While impacts of land use on body size should adhere to the same physiological principles due to urban heat island effect, urbanized environments are also characterized by substantial habitat fragmentation and altered resource availability and quality which selects for larger body sizes associated with enhanced dispersal abilities. Thus, understanding the combined effects of climate and land use changes on body size is imperative for biodiversity preservation and predicting future responses to rapid environmental change.

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