Cover | Shape-shifting in relative wing length of juvenile shorebirds
September Cover
Photo courtesy of the authors
Download the high-resolution image
“The cover photo features a red knot in flight, with its wings spread wide, in front of a group of shorebirds. The image complements the contents of our paper, which focuses on changes in wing length in juvenile shorebirds (including red knots, amongst other species).”
Read the open access paper in Ecography, by Ryding et al. (2025): Shape-shifting in relative wing length of juvenile shorebirds: no evidence of developmental temperatures driving morphological changes.
Abstract:
Morphological changes concurrent with climate change are increasingly identified in birds, often through decreasing body size and increasing appendage size. Such changes could have thermoregulatory implications, through the improved surface area to body ratio they provide. Due to the role of bird wings in thermoregulation, wing length relative to body mass may be changing as another form of shape-shifting, where increased relative wing length may facilitate increased heat loss as climates warm.
We investigated changes in relative wing length on a dataset of nearly 20,000 juvenile shorebirds from 11 species over the past four decades, to determine changes in morphology and whether these are linked to developmental temperatures.
Overall, across species, we found that relative wing length increased across the 43-year study period in populations migrating to tropical northern Australia but not in those migrating to temperate southern Australia. Furthermore, we found that changes in relative wing length were not driven by immediate responses to high temperature at the breeding ground during juvenile growth.
These results may suggest that relative wing length increases occur in shorebirds occupying already warm climates, where they might potentially be more thermally challenged under further warming, but that such changes are not occurring through plastic mechanisms during development.
Ecography—who are we?
ECOGRAPHY: A Journal of Space and Time in Ecology is an Open Access journal owned by the Nordic Society Oikos.
Our journal strives to understand ecological or biodiversity patterns through space and time. We encourage papers to advance the field of macroecology and biogeography through the development and testing of theory or modern methodology (remote sensing, molecular techniques, AI) or by proposing new tools for analysis or interpretation of ecological phenomena. There are no biases with regard to taxon, biome, or biogeographical area.
Thinking about publishing with us?
Ecography offers an annual E4 Award for early-career researchers
We value ethical standards in science (EDI, Open Access, waivers, accessible data and code, CRediT)
Check out Ecography’s journal metrics and see our Author Guidelines
Our journals, our society—join us!
The Nordic Society Oikos engages the global scientific community through five international journals…
…and supports the national ecological societies of the five Nordic countries. Anyone worldwide can join the Nordic Society Oikos.
NSO is a home for ecologists, a nexus for knowledge, and a guiding light for ecology worldwide. We are an active network of ecologists in the Nordic region and around the globe.
Why join NSO? Membership benefits include:
Connections across a global community of ecologists and five national societies
NSO newsletters with member-only updates about Nordic ecology and society activities
Ongoing opportunities for promotion on NSO’s digital platforms and social media channels
Discounted registration for NSO’s biennial conference
Eligibility to apply for NSO Grants
Each member receives additional benefits from one of our five national societies:
When you join NSO, you also become a member of one of our national societies. Which one? That’s up to you! Each national society provides its own benefits, including discounts to national conferences. Learn more about us at nordicsocietyoikos.org.
Danish Oikos Society
Oikos Finland
Icelandic Ecological Society
Norwegian Ecological Society
Swedish Oikos Society