Lack of phenological shift leads to increased camouflage mismatch in mountain hares
Understanding whether organisms will be able to adapt to human-induced stressors currently endangering their existence is an urgent priority. Globally, multiple species moult from a dark summer to white winter coat to maintain camouflage against snowy landscapes. Decreasing snow cover duration owing...
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crroyalsociety:10.1098/rspb.2020.1786 2024-09-30T14:38:16+00:00 Lack of phenological shift leads to increased camouflage mismatch in mountain hares Zimova, Marketa Giery, Sean T. Newey, Scott Nowak, J. Joshua Spencer, Michael Mills, L. Scott University of Montana National Science Foundation U.S. Geological Survey North Carolina State University Explorers Club Division of Environmental Biology 2020 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2020.1786 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rspb.2020.1786 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full-xml/10.1098/rspb.2020.1786 en eng The Royal Society https://royalsociety.org/-/media/journals/author/Licence-to-Publish-20062019-final.pdf https://royalsociety.org/journals/ethics-policies/data-sharing-mining/ Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences volume 287, issue 1941, page 20201786 ISSN 0962-8452 1471-2954 journal-article 2020 crroyalsociety https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2020.1786 2024-09-02T04:21:04Z Understanding whether organisms will be able to adapt to human-induced stressors currently endangering their existence is an urgent priority. Globally, multiple species moult from a dark summer to white winter coat to maintain camouflage against snowy landscapes. Decreasing snow cover duration owing to climate change is increasing mismatch in seasonal camouflage. To directly test for adaptive responses to recent changes in snow cover, we repeated historical (1950s) field studies of moult phenology in mountain hares ( Lepus timidus ) in Scotland. We found little evidence that population moult phenology has shifted to align seasonal coat colour with shorter snow seasons, or that phenotypic plasticity prevented increases in camouflage mismatch. The lack of responses resulted in 35 additional days of mismatch between 1950 and 2016. We emphasize the potential role of weak directional selection pressure and low genetic variability in shaping the scope for adaptive responses to anthropogenic stressors. Article in Journal/Newspaper Lepus timidus The Royal Society Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 287 1941 20201786 |
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Open Polar |
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The Royal Society |
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crroyalsociety |
language |
English |
description |
Understanding whether organisms will be able to adapt to human-induced stressors currently endangering their existence is an urgent priority. Globally, multiple species moult from a dark summer to white winter coat to maintain camouflage against snowy landscapes. Decreasing snow cover duration owing to climate change is increasing mismatch in seasonal camouflage. To directly test for adaptive responses to recent changes in snow cover, we repeated historical (1950s) field studies of moult phenology in mountain hares ( Lepus timidus ) in Scotland. We found little evidence that population moult phenology has shifted to align seasonal coat colour with shorter snow seasons, or that phenotypic plasticity prevented increases in camouflage mismatch. The lack of responses resulted in 35 additional days of mismatch between 1950 and 2016. We emphasize the potential role of weak directional selection pressure and low genetic variability in shaping the scope for adaptive responses to anthropogenic stressors. |
author2 |
University of Montana National Science Foundation U.S. Geological Survey North Carolina State University Explorers Club Division of Environmental Biology |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Zimova, Marketa Giery, Sean T. Newey, Scott Nowak, J. Joshua Spencer, Michael Mills, L. Scott |
spellingShingle |
Zimova, Marketa Giery, Sean T. Newey, Scott Nowak, J. Joshua Spencer, Michael Mills, L. Scott Lack of phenological shift leads to increased camouflage mismatch in mountain hares |
author_facet |
Zimova, Marketa Giery, Sean T. Newey, Scott Nowak, J. Joshua Spencer, Michael Mills, L. Scott |
author_sort |
Zimova, Marketa |
title |
Lack of phenological shift leads to increased camouflage mismatch in mountain hares |
title_short |
Lack of phenological shift leads to increased camouflage mismatch in mountain hares |
title_full |
Lack of phenological shift leads to increased camouflage mismatch in mountain hares |
title_fullStr |
Lack of phenological shift leads to increased camouflage mismatch in mountain hares |
title_full_unstemmed |
Lack of phenological shift leads to increased camouflage mismatch in mountain hares |
title_sort |
lack of phenological shift leads to increased camouflage mismatch in mountain hares |
publisher |
The Royal Society |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2020.1786 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rspb.2020.1786 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full-xml/10.1098/rspb.2020.1786 |
genre |
Lepus timidus |
genre_facet |
Lepus timidus |
op_source |
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences volume 287, issue 1941, page 20201786 ISSN 0962-8452 1471-2954 |
op_rights |
https://royalsociety.org/-/media/journals/author/Licence-to-Publish-20062019-final.pdf https://royalsociety.org/journals/ethics-policies/data-sharing-mining/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2020.1786 |
container_title |
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |
container_volume |
287 |
container_issue |
1941 |
container_start_page |
20201786 |
_version_ |
1811640961498873856 |