PDF(Pubmed)
Abstract：
Increased urbanisation influences the morphometric traits of various species, often resulting in urban individuals being smaller than their non-urban counterparts. Urbanisation can affect fundamental eco-evolutionary patterns and impact species\' ability to adapt to and occupy rapidly changing environments through morphological changes. We investigated the morphometric responses of two passerine species, the non-native house sparrow (Passer domesticus) and its native congener, the Cape sparrow (Passer melanurus), along gradients of spatial and temporal urbanisation in South Africa over a 52-year period. The house sparrow was significantly heavier, larger and in better condition with increasing urban infrastructure and lower urban vegetation cover, while the Cape sparrow showed opposing trends along these gradients. Temporally, the house sparrow\'s body mass increased consistently over the 52-year study period, suggesting changes in morphology were concomitant with increasing urbanisation over time. This study demonstrates distinct differences in the morphological responses of the non-native house sparrow and the native Cape sparrow to increasing urban development. These morphological responses may also underpin community-level changes caused by urbanisation, enhancing the capabilities of non-native species to thrive over their native counterparts in these environments.
摘要：
城市化进程的增加会影响各种物种的形态特征，通常导致城市个体比非城市个体小。城市化可以影响基本的生态进化模式，并通过形态变化影响物种适应和占据快速变化的环境的能力。我们调查了两种雀形目物种的形态测量响应，非本地麻雀（Passerdomesticus）及其本地同类物，海角麻雀（黑种人），在52年的时间里，沿着南非城市化的时空梯度。麻雀重得多，随着城市基础设施的增加和城市植被覆盖率的降低，而开普麻雀沿着这些梯度显示出相反的趋势。暂时,在52年的研究期间，麻雀的体重持续增加，提示随着时间的推移，形态的变化伴随着城市化的增加。这项研究表明，非本地麻雀和本地开普麻雀对城市发展的形态反应存在明显差异。这些形态反应也可能是城市化引起的社区水平变化的基础，增强非本地物种在这些环境中比本地物种壮成长的能力。
