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Droughts are expected to increase in frequency and severity with climate
change. Population impacts of such harsh environmental events are
theorized to vary with life history strategies among species. However,
existing demographic models generally do not consider behavioral
plasticity that may modify the impact of harsh events. Here we show that
tropical songbirds in the New and Old World reduced reproduction during
drought, with greater reductions in species with higher average long-term
survival. Large reductions in reproduction by longer-lived species were
associated with higher survival during drought than pre-drought years in
Malaysia, whereas shorter-lived species maintained reproduction and
survival decreased. Behavioral strategies of longer-lived, but not
shorter-lived, species mitigated the effect of increasing drought
frequency on long-term population growth. Behavioral plasticity can buffer
the impact of climate change on populations of some species, and
differences in plasticity among species related to their life histories
are critical for predicting population trajectories.
199 views reported since publication in 2020.