ADAPTIVE POTENTIAL TO CAMOUFLAGE MISMATCH: PLASTIC AND EVOLUTIONARY RESPONSES TO A CLIMATE CHANGE STRESSOR
Animals that occupy temperate and polar regions have specialized traits that help them survive in harsh, highly seasonal environments. One particularly important adaptation is seasonal coat colour (SCC) moulting. Over 20 species of birds and mammals distributed across the northern hemisphere undergo...
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University of Montana
2019
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Online Access: | https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/11421 https://scholarworks.umt.edu/context/etd/article/12492/viewcontent/Zimova_umt_0136D_10577.pdf |
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ftunivmontana:oai:scholarworks.umt.edu:etd-12492 2023-07-16T03:55:48+02:00 ADAPTIVE POTENTIAL TO CAMOUFLAGE MISMATCH: PLASTIC AND EVOLUTIONARY RESPONSES TO A CLIMATE CHANGE STRESSOR Zimova, Marketa 2019-01-01T08:00:00Z application/pdf https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/11421 https://scholarworks.umt.edu/context/etd/article/12492/viewcontent/Zimova_umt_0136D_10577.pdf unknown University of Montana https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/11421 https://scholarworks.umt.edu/context/etd/article/12492/viewcontent/Zimova_umt_0136D_10577.pdf Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers dissertation 2019 ftunivmontana 2023-06-27T23:48:33Z Animals that occupy temperate and polar regions have specialized traits that help them survive in harsh, highly seasonal environments. One particularly important adaptation is seasonal coat colour (SCC) moulting. Over 20 species of birds and mammals distributed across the northern hemisphere undergo complete, biannual colour change from brown in the summer to completely white in the winter. But as climate change decreases duration of snow cover, seasonally winter white species (including the snowshoe hare Lepus americanus, Arctic fox Vulpes lagopus and willow ptarmigan Lagopus lagopus) become highly contrasted against dark snowless backgrounds. The negative consequences of camouflage mismatch and adaptive potential is of high interest for conservation. Here we provide the first comprehensive review across birds and mammals of the adaptive value and mechanisms underpinning SCC moulting. We found that across species, the main function of SCC moults is seasonal camouflage against snow, and photoperiod is the main driver of the moult phenology. Next, although many underlying mechanisms remain unclear, mammalian species share similarities in some aspects of hair growth, neuroendocrine control, and the effects of intrinsic and extrinsic factors on moult phenology. The underlying basis of SCC moults in birds is less understood and differs from mammals in several aspects. Lastly, our synthesis suggests that due to limited plasticity in SCC moulting, evolutionary adaptation will be necessary to mediate future camouflage mismatch and a detailed understanding of the SCC moulting in all species will be needed to manage populations effectively under climate change. Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis Arctic Fox Arctic Climate change Vulpes lagopus University of Montana: ScholarWorks Arctic |
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Open Polar |
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University of Montana: ScholarWorks |
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ftunivmontana |
language |
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description |
Animals that occupy temperate and polar regions have specialized traits that help them survive in harsh, highly seasonal environments. One particularly important adaptation is seasonal coat colour (SCC) moulting. Over 20 species of birds and mammals distributed across the northern hemisphere undergo complete, biannual colour change from brown in the summer to completely white in the winter. But as climate change decreases duration of snow cover, seasonally winter white species (including the snowshoe hare Lepus americanus, Arctic fox Vulpes lagopus and willow ptarmigan Lagopus lagopus) become highly contrasted against dark snowless backgrounds. The negative consequences of camouflage mismatch and adaptive potential is of high interest for conservation. Here we provide the first comprehensive review across birds and mammals of the adaptive value and mechanisms underpinning SCC moulting. We found that across species, the main function of SCC moults is seasonal camouflage against snow, and photoperiod is the main driver of the moult phenology. Next, although many underlying mechanisms remain unclear, mammalian species share similarities in some aspects of hair growth, neuroendocrine control, and the effects of intrinsic and extrinsic factors on moult phenology. The underlying basis of SCC moults in birds is less understood and differs from mammals in several aspects. Lastly, our synthesis suggests that due to limited plasticity in SCC moulting, evolutionary adaptation will be necessary to mediate future camouflage mismatch and a detailed understanding of the SCC moulting in all species will be needed to manage populations effectively under climate change. |
format |
Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis |
author |
Zimova, Marketa |
spellingShingle |
Zimova, Marketa ADAPTIVE POTENTIAL TO CAMOUFLAGE MISMATCH: PLASTIC AND EVOLUTIONARY RESPONSES TO A CLIMATE CHANGE STRESSOR |
author_facet |
Zimova, Marketa |
author_sort |
Zimova, Marketa |
title |
ADAPTIVE POTENTIAL TO CAMOUFLAGE MISMATCH: PLASTIC AND EVOLUTIONARY RESPONSES TO A CLIMATE CHANGE STRESSOR |
title_short |
ADAPTIVE POTENTIAL TO CAMOUFLAGE MISMATCH: PLASTIC AND EVOLUTIONARY RESPONSES TO A CLIMATE CHANGE STRESSOR |
title_full |
ADAPTIVE POTENTIAL TO CAMOUFLAGE MISMATCH: PLASTIC AND EVOLUTIONARY RESPONSES TO A CLIMATE CHANGE STRESSOR |
title_fullStr |
ADAPTIVE POTENTIAL TO CAMOUFLAGE MISMATCH: PLASTIC AND EVOLUTIONARY RESPONSES TO A CLIMATE CHANGE STRESSOR |
title_full_unstemmed |
ADAPTIVE POTENTIAL TO CAMOUFLAGE MISMATCH: PLASTIC AND EVOLUTIONARY RESPONSES TO A CLIMATE CHANGE STRESSOR |
title_sort |
adaptive potential to camouflage mismatch: plastic and evolutionary responses to a climate change stressor |
publisher |
University of Montana |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/11421 https://scholarworks.umt.edu/context/etd/article/12492/viewcontent/Zimova_umt_0136D_10577.pdf |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic Fox Arctic Climate change Vulpes lagopus |
genre_facet |
Arctic Fox Arctic Climate change Vulpes lagopus |
op_source |
Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers |
op_relation |
https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/11421 https://scholarworks.umt.edu/context/etd/article/12492/viewcontent/Zimova_umt_0136D_10577.pdf |
_version_ |
1771541902334623744 |