TERRA researchers collaborate on a study published in the journal Science on the selection of fruit size by birds

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TERRA researchers collaborate on a study published in the journal Science on the selection of fruit size by birds

Professor Ruben Heleno and researcher José Miguel Costa contributed to a study published in the journal Science, which shows that birds optimize the size of fruit consumed within the limits of their distribution areas.

Researchers from TERRA Associate Laboratory (TERRA) and the Centre for Functional Ecology – Science for People & the Planet (CFE) have realized that birds often look for fruits that match the size of their beaks, because these fruits can be consumed more efficiently.

Conducting a comprehensive analysis of 831 fruit species consumed by 97 species of birds across six continents, the researchers demonstrated that, close to the limits of their range, frugivorous birds are forced to further optimize the size of the fruit consumed in relation to the size of their beak and that this pressure is less intense in the centre of their distribution area.

These results show that selective pressures are neither homogeneous nor random throughout the distribution area of each species. They are crucial for understanding how other pressures associated with global changes can condition the survival of species at the limit or even outside their ranges, historical distribution.

The article is available in Science, one of the world’s most prestigious and influential scientific journals, published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) – see article here.

Source: cfe.up.pt