Saved comments from January 2018

My comment on Veery Interesting.

With this title, the diary needs one more image.



Now it's complete.


My comment on Climate Change is Shrinking Moose.

This is Bergmann's Rule in action, an article about which the authors cite in their references. From the figure in its Wikipedia entry: "Bergmann’s rule is an ecologic principle stating that body mass increases with colder climate. Data demonstrating such a relationship in Swedish moose are shown... In addition to being a general pattern across space, Bergmann's rule has been reported in populations over historical and evolutionary time when exposed to varying thermal regimes." In other words, this is a completely expected result; moose are known to become smaller as the climate becomes warmer. The only surprise may be that it's happening more quickly than one might predict, as it's happening faster than mere genetic change over generations might explain. Instead, it seems to be a developmental response; moose grow to smaller sizes as an interaction with their environments over their lifetimes. Given the choice in the abstract between phenotypic plasticity or evolution, I choose phenotypic plasticity.


( More comments from Booman Tribune and elsewhere behind the cut. )