Postnatal growth rate varies with latitude in range-expanding geese – the role of plasticity and day length

This dataset contains data from an analysis of differences in growth rate among three different barnacle populations breeding at different latitudes, described in the paper:
Boom, Michiel P., van der Jeugd, H.P., Steffani, B., Nolet, B.A., Larsson, K., & Eichhorn, G. (2021), Postnatal growth rate varies with latitude in range-expanding geese – the role of plasticity and day length. Journal of Animal Ecology.

The postnatal growth period is a crucial life stage, with potential lifelong effects on an animal’s fitness. How fast animals grow depends on their life history strategy and rearing environment, and interspecific comparisons generally show higher growth rates at higher latitudes. However, to elucidate the mechanisms behind this gradient in growth rate, intraspecific comparisons are needed.

Recently, barnacle geese expanded their Arctic breeding range from the Russian Barents Sea coast southwards, and now also breed along the Baltic and North Sea coasts. Baltic breeders sh...