Latitudinal and altitudinal patterns ...

Latitudinal and altitudinal patterns in avian pace-of-life syndromes: a study of Afrotropical and European songbirds (2017-2019)

Investigator: doc. Mgr. Tomáš Albrecht, Ph.D.
Number of Project: 17-24782S
Agency: Czech Science Foundation
Duration: 01. 01. 2017 - 31. 12. 2019

Environmental gradients provide powerful systems for evaluating the effects of environmental variation on the evolution of life-history traits and associated pace-of-life syndromes (POLS). Using a comparative approach, we will evaluate the basic prediction that POLS show clear latitudinal contrasts, as suggested by well-documented slow-to-fast shifts in avian life-histories with increased latitude. In addition, a detailed study of the dynamics of POLS along an altitudinal gradient will be conducted in order to test whether increasing altitude in the tropics selects for similar POLS as increasing latitude. This will be the first such study on an Old World tropical mountain and the study’s unique multidisciplinary approach, which includes several novel and presently underused methods in zoological/ecological research, will increase our understanding of the physiological and immunological mechanisms involved in life-history evolution.