Honors College Thesis
 

Assessing how morphology of female desert bighorn sheep varies with climate in the Mojave Desert of California

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https://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/concern/honors_college_theses/nv935b72w

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  • Understanding how spatial variation in climate correlates with phenotypic variation among individuals may offer insights about local adaptation, population performance, and species’ response to climate change. Desert bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis nelsoni) in the Mojave Desert of southern California experience a broad range of temperature and aridity, inhabiting mountain ranges with maximum elevations of 284—2417 m. I used data collected by California Department of Fisheries and Wildlife from 1978-2020 to assess variation in morphology among female desert bighorn sheep across 20 mountain ranges. Those data included horn length, horn circumference, body length, chest girth, metatarsal length, and neck circumference measurements. I tested the association of morphological measurements with environmental predictors (elevation, precipitation, and ambient temperature) using general linear models (GLMs) and principal component analysis (PCA) to determine whether climate was associated with morphology. I found that body length, chest girth, metatarsal length, and neck measurements were positively correlated with elevation and precipitation and negatively correlated with temperature. Horn length and circumference was best explained by a curvilinear relationship, where horn size was maximized at intermediate elevation and temperatures. I concluded that desert bighorn sheep morphology varies with climatic conditions, potentially due to local adaptation and differences in nutrition.
  • Key Words: Morphology, phenotypic variation, local adaptation, Ovis canadensis nelsoni, Mojave Desert
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