Projects per year
Abstract
Biotic responses to global change include directional shifts in organismal traits. Body size, an integrative trait that determines demographic rates and ecosystem functions, is thought to be shrinking in the Anthropocene. Here, we assessed the prevalence of body size change in six taxon groups across 5025 assemblage time series spanning 1960 to 2020. Using the Price equation to partition this change into within-species body size versus compositional changes, we detected prevailing decreases in body size through time driven primarily by fish, with more variable patterns in other taxa. We found that change in assemblage composition contributes more to body size changes than within-species trends, but both components show substantial variation in magnitude and direction. The biomass of assemblages remains quite stable as decreases in body size trade off with increases in abundance.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 1067-1071 |
Number of pages | 5 |
Journal | Science |
Volume | 381 |
Issue number | 6662 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 8 Sept 2023 |
Fingerprint
Dive into the research topics of 'Widespread shifts in body size within populations and assemblages'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.-
Leverhulme Centre for Anthropocene Bio: Leverhulme Centre for Anthropocene Biodiversity
Dornelas, M. (PI)
1/05/19 → 30/04/29
Project: Standard
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Changing biodiversity in changing: H2020-MSCA-IF-2019 TraChange
Dornelas, M. (PI) & Santos Martins, I. (CoI)
1/02/21 → 31/01/23
Project: Fellowship
Datasets
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BodySize-Change: updated code for the "Widespread shifts in body size within populations and assemblages" manuscript
Martins, I. (Creator), Zenodo, 2023
Dataset: Software