PhoticEdge · Are species distributions constrained by biological timing mechanisms and the photic environment?
Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
- Duration
- 2022-02-01 → 2024-01-31
- EU contribution
- €191,852
- Participants
- 1
- Scheme
- MSCA-IF
Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.
Results in brief
Are species distributions constrained by biological timing mechanisms and the photic environment?
Organisms use abiotic cues, such as sunlight, to align their biology to the environment. However, the effect of daylength on species distribution is poorly understood. The EU-funded PhoticEdge project examined this relationship, using migratory songbirds captured in Sweden that had either a subpolar or polar breeding distribution or an equatorial or transequatorial migration strategy. Migratory songbirds were studied because they use photic cues for determining breeding, migration, and navigation. PhoticEdge is elucidating how the photic environment associated with the birds' breeding and wintering distributions influences their ability to align their biology to daily and annual cycles. This is providing insight into the interaction between species distributions and the photic environment, increasing knowledge of changes to biodiversity under global climate change. Main objectives of the project also included training the researcher and transfer of knowledge between the researcher and the hosting supervisor.
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
Biotic and abiotic factors determine species distributions, and organisms use abiotic cues, such as the diel and annual changes in available light, to synchronize their biology to the environment. Temperature is a dominant factor determining species distributions, and under global climate change, global temperature gradients are shifting polewards, away from the equator. In contrast, the photic environment is fixed by latitude and date, and is a dominant factor in determining ecological interactions and physiology. We, however, know little about whether these static photic cues determine species distributions. I aim to elucidate the relationship between species distributions and the photic environment by studying four species of migratory flycatchers (songbirds) breeding along a latitudinal gradient spanning from 56 degrees North latitude to above the northern polar circle (66.6 °N) in Sweden. Migratory flycatchers are excellent models to test hypotheses regarding the interaction between species distributions and the photic environment, because they use photic cues for determining breeding, migration, and compass bearings. The selected species also have different breeding and migratory ranges that span the polar circle and cross the equator, thus providing an excellent comparative system for understanding constraints on the northern and southern edges of their distributions. I will bring individuals into captivity to investigate experimentally how the photic environment associated with their breeding and wintering ranges affect their ability to track the diel and annual cycles. This project will provide novel insight into the interaction among species distributions and photic environment, insight required to predict properly whether species could successfully track their optimal thermal environment to new latitudes and photic environments. This new insight allows us to understand better the changes to biodiversity under global climate change.
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- LUNDS UNIVERSITET · LundCoordinatorSweden
Links
Data: CORDIS, © European Union