European springtime temperature synchronises ibex horn growth across the eastern Swiss Alps.

摘要: Direct effects of climate change on animal physiology, and indirect impacts from disruption seasonal synchrony breakdown trophic interactions are particularly severe in Arctic Alpine ecosystems. Unravelling biotic abiotic drivers, however, remains challenging because high-resolution population data often limited space time. Here, we show that variation annual horn growth (an proxy for individual performance) 8043 male ibex (Capra ibex) over the past four decades is well synchronised among eight disjunct colonies eastern Swiss Alps. Elevated March to May temperatures, causing premature melting snowcover, earlier plant phenology subsequent improvement food resources, fuelled growth. These results reveal dependency local large-scale dynamics, provide evidence declining herbivore performance not a universal response global warming even high-altitude populations also harvested.