University of New Mexico UNM Digital Repository Biology ETDs Electronic Theses and Dissertations 7-1-2015 Constraints on distributions and diversity of birds and mammals over variable environments Trevor S. Fristoe Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/biol_etds Part of the Biology Commons Recommended Citation Fristoe, Trevor S.. "Constraints on distributions and diversity of birds and mammals over variable environments." (2015). https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/biol_etds/39 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Electronic Theses and Dissertations at UNM Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Biology ETDs by an authorized administrator of UNM Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Trevor S Fristoe Candidate Biology Department This dissertation is approved, and it is acceptable in quality and form for publication: Approved by the Dissertation Committee: James H Brown , Chairperson Christopher Witt , Co-chairperson Felisa Smith Brian Maurer i CONSTRAINTS ON DISTRIBUTIONS AND DIVERSITY IN BIRDS AND MAMMALS OVER VARIABLE ENVIRONMENTS by TREVOR S FRISTOE B.A. Biology, University of Oregon, 2008 DISSERTATION Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Biology The University of New Mexico Albuquerque, New Mexico July, 2015 ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I greatly appreciate the support of Gretchen Garcia, my parents, Brad and Debbie Fristoe, my many friends in Albuquerque, and those distributed elsewhere in the world. Each played a role in influencing my trajectory in life and maintaining my happiness through the ups and downs of academics. James H. Brown has provided me with an exemplary example of how to be an outstanding scientist as well as a standup person. I would like to extend my warmest thanks for the advice, direction, patience, and inspiration that he provided throughout my research. I would also like to thank Chris Witt, Felisa Smith, and Brian Maurer for their support and advice, Robbie Burger for his guidance in expanding my knowledge of natural history, and many members of the Brown, Smith, and Witt labs for various roles. Many beyond the authors listed made this dissertation possible and I gladly extend my appreciation. iii CONSTRAINTS ON DISTRIBUTIONS AND DIVERSITY IN BIRDS AND MAMMALS OVER VARIABLE ENVIRONMENTS By Trevor S Fristoe B.A. Biology, University of Oregon, 2008 PhD, Biology, University of New Mexico, 2015 ABSTRACT The distributions of species are determined by intrinsic factors such as physiological tolerances as well as extrinsic factors of the environment such as the availability of resources. While physiological tolerances generally change over evolutionary time scales, changes in environmental productivity due to processes such as succession or seasonal progression often occur over ecological times. I address both physiology and resource availability as drivers of the distributions and diversity of endothermic birds and mammals using a macroecological approach and a metabolic perspective. Migratory birds, altering communities over seasonal cycles, provide a unique opportunity to investigate the drivers of distributions and diversity that act over ecological time scales. In my first chapter, I show that energy use by migrants in North American breeding bird communities tracks the seasonal dynamics of resource availability. Migrants dominate consumption in tundra and boreal forests where the summer pulse of resources is large relative to winter productivity. While migrants are more prominent during the breeding season, many species overwinter throughout the temperate zone where their role in communities is understudied. In my second chapter, I quantify the contribution of migrants to diversity and energy use in North American iv winter bird communities. Overwintering migrants contribute little to diversity but dominate energy use in many temperate communities. My third chapter represents the efforts of myself and colleagues to understand the physiological adaptations that determine the thermal environments in which species can persist. By expanding on the Scholander-Irving model of heat transfer, we show that mass independent changes to basal metabolic rate and thermal conductance allow endotherms to inhabit nearly the full breadth of thermal environments on Earth. v TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Figures ................................................................................................................. viii List of Tables ......................................................................................................................x Introduction ........................................................................................................................1 Chapster 1: Energy use by migrants and residents in North American breeding bird communities ........................................................................................................................3 Abstract ............................................................................................................................3 Introduction ......................................................................................................................5 Methods ............................................................................................................................8 Results ............................................................................................................................12 Discussion ......................................................................................................................14 References ......................................................................................................................19 Supplemental materials ..................................................................................................33 Chapster 2: The contribution of migrants to diversity and energy use in North American winter bird communities ...............................................................................35 Abstract ..........................................................................................................................35 Introduction ....................................................................................................................36 Methods ..........................................................................................................................37 Results ............................................................................................................................42 Discussion ......................................................................................................................45 References ......................................................................................................................49 Supplemental materials ..................................................................................................60 Chapster 3: Metabolic heat production and thermal conductance are mass- independent adapatations to thermal environment in birds and mammals ..............62 Abstract ..........................................................................................................................62 Significance statement ....................................................................................................63 Introduction ....................................................................................................................64 Theory: extensions of the S-I model ..............................................................................66 vi Empirical evidence .........................................................................................................68 Discussion ......................................................................................................................70 Materials and methods ...................................................................................................73 References ......................................................................................................................78 Supplemental materials ..................................................................................................91 vii LIST OF FIGURES Chapter 1 Figure 1. Graphical model of the distribution of resources between migrants and residents across seasons ...................................................................................................................26 Figure 2. Geographic distribution of energy use by migrants and residents .....................28 Figure 3. Correlation of energy use and seasonal resource availability in breeding bird communities .......................................................................................................................29 Figure 4. Proportional energy use by migrants over geography ........................................30 Figure 5. Average migratory distance in breeding bird communities ...............................32 Figure S1. Proportion of energy used by tropical migrants in forest and open habitats ....34 Chapter 2 Figure 1. Proportion of migratory species in winter communities over geography .........55 Figure 2. Geographic distribution of migrant and resident species in winter bird communities ......................................................................................................................56 Figure 3.