Data for: Relatively large wings facilitate life at higher elevations in Nearctic dragonflies

Determining which traits allow species to live at higher elevations is
essential to understanding the forces shaping montane biodiversity. For
the many animals that rely on flight for locomotion, a long-standing
hypothesis is that species with relatively large wings should better
persist in high-elevation environments because wings that are large
relative to the body generate more lift and decrease the aerobic costs of
remaining aloft. Although these biomechanical and physiological
predictions have received some support in birds, other flying taxa often
possess smaller wings at high elevations or no wings at all. To test if
predictions about the requirements for relative wing size at high
elevations are generalizable beyond birds, we conducted macroecological
analyses on the altitudinal characteristics of 302 Nearctic dragonfly
species. Consistent with the biomechanical and aerobic hypotheses, species
with relatively larger wings live at higher elevations and have wider
elevation breadths—even after controlling for a species’ body size, mean
thermal conditions, and range size. Moreover, a species’ relative wing
size had nearly as large of an impact on its maximum elevation as being
adapted to the cold.  Relatively large wings may be essential to
high-elevation life in species that completely depend on flight for
locomotion, like dragonflies or birds. With climate change forcing taxa to
disperse upslope, our findings further suggest that relatively large wings
may be a requirement for completely volant taxa to persist in montane
habitats.