Winter wren populations show adaptation to local climate

Wrens are amongst the UK's smallest songbirds, and their populations can decline following periods of cold winter weather, due to the cold itself and difficulties in finding sufficient insect prey. BTO research, in collaboration with the University of East Anglia, shows that Wrens inhabiting regions where winters are more severe have adapted to this.

The study used information on Wren populations that had been collected by volunteers participating in the Breeding Bird Survey to show that Wren populations were susceptible to severe winter weather, measured in terms of the number of days with a ground frost. However, northern populations were found to be resilient to winters with up to 70% more frost days than southern populations, suggesting a degree of local adaptation. This work indicates that each Wren population is closely adapted to its local climate; there was a close correlation between the historic regional climate and the degree to which the population was resilient to severe winters.

Using information collected by bird ringers, the study also found that Wren body mass was approximately 5% lower in the warmest (south-west) than in the coldest (east Scotland) region. Large individuals are likely to be favoured in colder regions due to the thermal advantage of larger  size and their ability to store more body fat, matching the pattern seen more widely across other species – a pattern known as Bergmann’s rule.

The findings of this study have particular relevance to our understanding of how birds and other species respond to climate change. Although this work shows that Wren populations may adapt to at least some change in temperature, they are short-lived and therefore probably more adaptable than most other bird species. Ultimately, the ability of species to cope with climate change will depend upon whether the future rate of warming exceeds their ability to adapt.

Notes

BBS is run by the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), and jointly funded by the BTO, the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC, the statutory adviser to Government on UK and international nature conservation, on behalf of Natural Resources Wales, the Council for Nature Conservation and the Countryside, Natural England and Scottish Natural Heritage) and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB).

The Ringing Scheme is funded by a partnership of the BTO and the JNCC on behalf of the statutory nature conservation bodies (Natural England, Natural Resources Wales, Scottish Natural Heritage and the Department of the Environment Northern Ireland). Ringing is also funded by The National Parks and Wildlife Service (Ireland) and the ringers themselves.