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Lewin PJ, Wynn J, Arcos JM, Austin RE, Blagrove J, Bond S, Carrasco G, Delord K, Fisher-Reeves L, García D, Gillies N, Guilford T, Hawkins I, Jaggers P, Kirk C, Louzao M, Maurice L, McMinn M, Micol T, Morford J, Morgan G, Moss J, Riera EM, Rodriguez A, Siddiqi-Davies K, Weimerskirch H, Wynn RB, Padget O. Climate change drives migratory range shift via individual plasticity in shearwaters. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2024; 121:e2312438121. [PMID: 38285933 PMCID: PMC10861922 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2312438121] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2023] [Accepted: 12/08/2023] [Indexed: 01/31/2024] Open
Abstract
How individual animals respond to climate change is key to whether populations will persist or go extinct. Yet, few studies investigate how changes in individual behavior underpin these population-level phenomena. Shifts in the distributions of migratory animals can occur through adaptation in migratory behaviors, but there is little understanding of how selection and plasticity contribute to population range shift. Here, we use long-term geolocator tracking of Balearic shearwaters (Puffinus mauretanicus) to investigate how year-to-year changes in individual birds' migrations underpin a range shift in the post-breeding migration. We demonstrate a northward shift in the post-breeding range and show that this is brought about by individual plasticity in migratory destination, with individuals migrating further north in response to changes in sea-surface temperature. Furthermore, we find that when individuals migrate further, they return faster, perhaps minimizing delays in return to the breeding area. Birds apparently judge the increased distance that they will need to migrate via memory of the migration route, suggesting that spatial cognitive mechanisms may contribute to this plasticity and the resulting range shift. Our study exemplifies the role that individual behavior plays in populations' responses to environmental change and highlights some of the behavioral mechanisms that might be key to understanding and predicting species persistence in response to climate change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patrick J. Lewin
- Department of Biology, University of Oxford, OxfordOX1 3SZ, United Kingdom
| | - Joe Wynn
- Department of Biology, University of Oxford, OxfordOX1 3SZ, United Kingdom
- Institut für Vogelforschung “Vogelwarte Helgoland”, Wilhelmshaven26386, Germany
| | - José Manuel Arcos
- Programa Marino, Sociedad Española de Ornitología/BirdLife, Delegació de Catalunya, Barcelona08026, Spain
| | - Rhiannon E. Austin
- National Oceanography Centre–Southampton, SouthamptonSO14 3ZH, United Kingdom
- Earth Ocean and Ecological Sciences, School of Environmental Sciences, University of Liverpool, LiverpoolL69 3GP, United Kingdom
| | - Josephine Blagrove
- Department of Biology, University of Oxford, OxfordOX1 3SZ, United Kingdom
| | - Sarah Bond
- Department of Biology, University of Oxford, OxfordOX1 3SZ, United Kingdom
- School of Ocean Sciences, College of Science and Engineering, Bangor University, Menai BridgeLL59 5AB, United Kingdom
| | - Gemma Carrasco
- Iniciativa de Recerca de la Biodiversitat de les Illes, Alaior, Balearic Islands07730, Spain
| | - Karine Delord
- Centre d’Etudes Biologiques de Chizé, Laboratoire des Sciences de l'Environnement Marin, UMR 7372, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Villiers en Bois79360, France
| | | | - David García
- Iniciativa de Recerca de la Biodiversitat de les Illes, Alaior, Balearic Islands07730, Spain
| | - Natasha Gillies
- Department of Biology, University of Oxford, OxfordOX1 3SZ, United Kingdom
- Earth Ocean and Ecological Sciences, School of Environmental Sciences, University of Liverpool, LiverpoolL69 3GP, United Kingdom
| | - Tim Guilford
- Department of Biology, University of Oxford, OxfordOX1 3SZ, United Kingdom
| | - Isobel Hawkins
- Department of Biology, University of Oxford, OxfordOX1 3SZ, United Kingdom
| | - Paris Jaggers
- Department of Biology, University of Oxford, OxfordOX1 3SZ, United Kingdom
| | - Christian Kirk
- Department of Biology, University of Oxford, OxfordOX1 3SZ, United Kingdom
| | - Maite Louzao
- AZTI, Marine Research, Basque Research and Technology Alliance, Pasaia20110, Spain
| | - Lou Maurice
- British Geological Survey, WallingfordOX10 8ED, United Kingdom
| | - Miguel McMinn
- Grupo Biogeografía, geodinámica y sedimentación del Mediterráneo occidental, Ciències i Tecnologies Mediambientals, Universitat de les Illes Balears,Palma, Balearic IslandsE07122, Spain
| | - Thierry Micol
- Ligue pour la Protection des Oiseaux, BirdLife International Partner in France, Rochefort Cedex17305, France
| | - Joe Morford
- Department of Biology, University of Oxford, OxfordOX1 3SZ, United Kingdom
| | - Greg Morgan
- Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, Ramsey Island, St. Davids, PembrokeshireSA62 6PY, United Kingdom
| | - Jason Moss
- Department of Biology, University of Oxford, OxfordOX1 3SZ, United Kingdom
| | - Elisa Miquel Riera
- Department of Biology, University of Oxford, OxfordOX1 3SZ, United Kingdom
| | - Ana Rodriguez
- Grupo Biogeografía, geodinámica y sedimentación del Mediterráneo occidental, Ciències i Tecnologies Mediambientals, Universitat de les Illes Balears,Palma, Balearic IslandsE07122, Spain
| | | | - Henri Weimerskirch
- Centre d’Etudes Biologiques de Chizé, Laboratoire des Sciences de l'Environnement Marin, UMR 7372, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Villiers en Bois79360, France
| | - Russell B. Wynn
- National Oceanography Centre–Southampton, SouthamptonSO14 3ZH, United Kingdom
| | - Oliver Padget
- Department of Biology, University of Oxford, OxfordOX1 3SZ, United Kingdom
- Earth Ocean and Ecological Sciences, School of Environmental Sciences, University of Liverpool, LiverpoolL69 3GP, United Kingdom
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Uesaka L, Goto Y, Naruoka M, Weimerskirch H, Sato K, Sakamoto KQ. Wandering albatrosses exert high take-off effort only when both wind and waves are gentle. eLife 2023; 12:RP87016. [PMID: 37814539 PMCID: PMC10564450 DOI: 10.7554/elife.87016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/11/2023] Open
Abstract
The relationship between the environment and marine animal small-scale behavior is not fully understood. This is largely due to the difficulty in obtaining environmental datasets with a high spatiotemporal precision. The problem is particularly pertinent in assessing the influence of environmental factors in rapid, high energy-consuming behavior such as seabird take-off. To fill the gaps in the existing environmental datasets, we employed novel techniques using animal-borne sensors with motion records to estimate wind and ocean wave parameters and evaluated their influence on wandering albatross take-off patterns. Measurements revealed that wind speed and wave heights experienced by wandering albatrosses during take-off ranged from 0.7 to 15.4 m/s and 1.6 to 6.4 m, respectively. The four indices measured (flapping number, frequency, sea surface running speed, and duration) also varied with the environmental conditions (e.g., flapping number varied from 0 to over 20). Importantly, take-off was easier under higher wave conditions than under lower wave conditions at a constant wind speed, and take-off effort increased only when both wind and waves were gentle. Our data suggest that both ocean waves and winds play important roles for albatross take-off and advances our current understanding of albatross flight mechanisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leo Uesaka
- Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, The University of TokyoKashiwaJapan
- Information and Technology Center, The University of TokyoKashiwaJapan
| | - Yusuke Goto
- Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, The University of TokyoKashiwaJapan
- Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Nagoya UniversityFuroJapan
- Centre d’Etudes Biologiques de Chize (CEBC), UMR 7372 CNRS, Université de La RochelleVilliers-en-BoisFrance
| | - Masaru Naruoka
- Aeronautical Technology Directorate, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)ChofuJapan
| | - Henri Weimerskirch
- Centre d’Etudes Biologiques de Chize (CEBC), UMR 7372 CNRS, Université de La RochelleVilliers-en-BoisFrance
| | - Katsufumi Sato
- Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, The University of TokyoKashiwaJapan
| | - Kentaro Q Sakamoto
- Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, The University of TokyoKashiwaJapan
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3
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Wynn J, Leberecht B, Liedvogel M, Burnus L, Chetverikova R, Döge S, Karwinkel T, Kobylkov D, Xu J, Mouritsen H. Naive songbirds show seasonally appropriate spring orientation in the laboratory despite having never completed first migration. Biol Lett 2023; 19:20220478. [PMCID: PMC9943868 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2022.0478] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/24/2023] Open
Abstract
The role of inherited orientation programmes in determining the outbound migratory routes of birds is increasingly well understood, though less is known about the influence of inherited information on return migration. Previous studies suggest that spatial gradient cues learnt through experience could be of considerable importance when relocating the natal site, though such cues could, in principle, augment rather than replace inherited migratory information. Here, we show that juvenile Eurasian blackcaps (Sylvia atricapilla) that have never left northwest Europe (i.e. never had the opportunity to learn navigational information on a continental scale) show significant spring orientation in a direction near-identical to that expected based on ringing recoveries from free-flying individuals. We suggest that this is probably indicative of birds inheriting an orientation programme for spring as well as autumn migration and speculate that, as long as the birds are not displaced far from their normal migration route, the use of inherited spring migratory trajectories might make uni-coordinate ‘stop signs’ sufficiently accurate for the long-distance targeting of their breeding sites.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joe Wynn
- Institut für Vogelforschung “Vogelwarte Helgoland”, An Der Vogelwarte 21, 26386, Wilhelmshaven, Germany
| | - Bo Leberecht
- AG ‘Neurosensorik/Animal Navigation’, Carl-von-Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg, 26111 Oldenburg, Germany,Research Centre for Neurosensory Sciences, University of Oldenburg, 26111 Oldenburg, Germany
| | - Miriam Liedvogel
- Institut für Vogelforschung “Vogelwarte Helgoland”, An Der Vogelwarte 21, 26386, Wilhelmshaven, Germany,MPRG Behavioural Genomics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology, 24306 Plön, Germany
| | - Lars Burnus
- AG ‘Neurosensorik/Animal Navigation’, Carl-von-Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg, 26111 Oldenburg, Germany,Research Centre for Neurosensory Sciences, University of Oldenburg, 26111 Oldenburg, Germany
| | - Raisa Chetverikova
- AG ‘Neurosensorik/Animal Navigation’, Carl-von-Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg, 26111 Oldenburg, Germany,Research Centre for Neurosensory Sciences, University of Oldenburg, 26111 Oldenburg, Germany
| | - Sara Döge
- AG ‘Neurosensorik/Animal Navigation’, Carl-von-Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg, 26111 Oldenburg, Germany,Research Centre for Neurosensory Sciences, University of Oldenburg, 26111 Oldenburg, Germany
| | - Thiemo Karwinkel
- Institut für Vogelforschung “Vogelwarte Helgoland”, An Der Vogelwarte 21, 26386, Wilhelmshaven, Germany,AG ‘Neurosensorik/Animal Navigation’, Carl-von-Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg, 26111 Oldenburg, Germany,Research Centre for Neurosensory Sciences, University of Oldenburg, 26111 Oldenburg, Germany
| | - Dmitry Kobylkov
- AG ‘Neurosensorik/Animal Navigation’, Carl-von-Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg, 26111 Oldenburg, Germany,Research Centre for Neurosensory Sciences, University of Oldenburg, 26111 Oldenburg, Germany,Center for Mind/Brain Science, University of Trento, Piazza Manifattura 1, 38068 Rovereto, TN, Italy
| | - Jingjing Xu
- AG ‘Neurosensorik/Animal Navigation’, Carl-von-Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg, 26111 Oldenburg, Germany,Research Centre for Neurosensory Sciences, University of Oldenburg, 26111 Oldenburg, Germany
| | - Henrik Mouritsen
- AG ‘Neurosensorik/Animal Navigation’, Carl-von-Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg, 26111 Oldenburg, Germany,Research Centre for Neurosensory Sciences, University of Oldenburg, 26111 Oldenburg, Germany
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Darby J, Clairbaux M, Bennison A, Quinn JL, Jessopp MJ. Underwater visibility constrains the foraging behaviour of a diving pelagic seabird. Proc Biol Sci 2022; 289:20220862. [PMID: 35858070 PMCID: PMC9277241 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2022.0862] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Understanding the sensory ecology of species is vital if we are to predict how they will function in a changing environment. Visual cues are fundamentally important for many predators when detecting and capturing prey. However, many marine areas have become more turbid through processes influenced by climate change, potentially affecting the ability of marine predators to detect prey. We performed the first study that directly relates a pelagic seabird species's foraging behaviour to oceanic turbidity. We collected biologging data from 79 foraging trips and 5472 dives of a visually dependent, pursuit-diving seabird, the Manx shearwater (Puffinus puffinus). Foraging behaviour was modelled against environmental variables affecting underwater visibility, including water turbidity, cloud cover and solar angle. Shearwaters were more likely to initiate area-restricted search and foraging dives in clearer waters. Underwater visibility also strongly predicted dive rate and depth, suggesting that fine-scale prey capture was constrained by the detectability of prey underwater. Our novel use of dynamic descriptors of underwater visibility suggests that visual cues are vital for underwater foraging. Our data indicate that climate change could negatively impact seabird populations by making prey more difficult to detect, compounded by the widely reported effects of reduced prey populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- J. Darby
- School of Biological, Environmental and Earth Sciences, University College Cork, Cork T23 N73K, Ireland,MaREI Centre for Energy, Climate and Marine, Environmental Research Institute, University College Cork, Cork P43 C573, Ireland
| | - M. Clairbaux
- School of Biological, Environmental and Earth Sciences, University College Cork, Cork T23 N73K, Ireland,MaREI Centre for Energy, Climate and Marine, Environmental Research Institute, University College Cork, Cork P43 C573, Ireland
| | - A. Bennison
- British Antarctic Survey, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0ET, UK
| | - J. L. Quinn
- School of Biological, Environmental and Earth Sciences, University College Cork, Cork T23 N73K, Ireland
| | - M. J. Jessopp
- School of Biological, Environmental and Earth Sciences, University College Cork, Cork T23 N73K, Ireland,MaREI Centre for Energy, Climate and Marine, Environmental Research Institute, University College Cork, Cork P43 C573, Ireland
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5
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Kempton JA, Wynn J, Bond S, Evry J, Fayet AL, Gillies N, Guilford T, Kavelaars M, Juarez-Martinez I, Padget O, Rutz C, Shoji A, Syposz M, Taylor GK. Optimization of dynamic soaring in a flap-gliding seabird affects its large-scale distribution at sea. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2022; 8:eabo0200. [PMID: 35648862 PMCID: PMC9159700 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abo0200] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2022] [Accepted: 04/13/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Dynamic soaring harvests energy from a spatiotemporal wind gradient, allowing albatrosses to glide over vast distances. However, its use is challenging to demonstrate empirically and has yet to be confirmed in other seabirds. Here, we investigate how flap-gliding Manx shearwaters optimize their flight for dynamic soaring. We do so by deriving a new metric, the horizontal wind effectiveness, that quantifies how effectively flight harvests energy from a shear layer. We evaluate this metric empirically for fine-scale trajectories reconstructed from bird-borne video data using a simplified flight dynamics model. We find that the birds' undulations are phased with their horizontal turning to optimize energy harvesting. We also assess the opportunity for energy harvesting in long-range, GPS-logged foraging trajectories and find that Manx shearwaters optimize their flight to increase the opportunity for dynamic soaring during favorable wind conditions. Our results show how small-scale dynamic soaring affects large-scale Manx shearwater distribution at sea.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Joe Wynn
- Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3SZ, UK
- Institut für Vogelforschung, 26386 Wilhelmshaven, Germany
| | - Sarah Bond
- School of Ocean Sciences, Bangor University, Menai Bridge LL59 5AB, UK
| | - James Evry
- Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3SZ, UK
- Costello Medical, Cambridge CB1 2JH, UK
| | - Annette L. Fayet
- Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3SZ, UK
- Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, PO Box 5685 Torgarden, 7485 Trondheim, Norway
| | - Natasha Gillies
- Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3SZ, UK
| | - Tim Guilford
- Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3SZ, UK
| | - Marwa Kavelaars
- Behavioral Ecology and Ecophysiology, University of Antwerp, 2610 Antwerp, Belgium
| | | | - Oliver Padget
- Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3SZ, UK
| | - Christian Rutz
- School of Biology, University of St Andrews, St Andrews KY16 9TH, UK
| | - Akiko Shoji
- Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8572, Japan
| | - Martyna Syposz
- Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3SZ, UK
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6
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Space, the original frontier. Curr Opin Behav Sci 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cobeha.2022.101106] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
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7
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Szabo B, Valencia-Aguilar A, Damas-Moreira I, Ringler E. Wild cognition - linking form and function of cognitive abilities within a natural context. Curr Opin Behav Sci 2022; 44:101115. [PMID: 38989158 PMCID: PMC7616152 DOI: 10.1016/j.cobeha.2022.101115] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Interest in studying cognitive ecology has moved the field of animal cognition into the wild. Animals face many challenges such as finding food and other resources, avoiding and deterring predators and choosing the best mate to increase their reproductive success. To solve these dilemmas, animals need to rely on a range of cognitive abilities. Studying cognition in natural settings is a powerful approach revealing the link between adaptive form and biological function. Recent technological and analytical advances opened up completely new opportunities and research directions for studying animal cognition. Such innovative studies were able to disclose the variety in cognitive processes that animals use to survive and reproduce. Cognition indeed plays a major role in the daily lives of wild animals, in which the integration of many different types of information using a diverse range of cognitive processes enhances fitness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Birgit Szabo
- Division of Behavioural Ecology, Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Anyelet Valencia-Aguilar
- Division of Behavioural Ecology, Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Isabel Damas-Moreira
- Behavioural Ecology, Faculty of Biology, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany
| | - Eva Ringler
- Division of Behavioural Ecology, Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
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8
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Wynn J, Padget O, Morford J, Jaggers P, Davies K, Borsier E, Guilford T. How might magnetic secular variation impact avian philopatry? J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol 2022; 208:145-154. [PMID: 35152316 PMCID: PMC8918480 DOI: 10.1007/s00359-021-01533-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2021] [Revised: 12/01/2021] [Accepted: 12/03/2021] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
A tendency to return to the natal/breeding site, 'philopatry', is widespread amongst migratory birds. It has been suggested that a magnetic 'map' could underpin such movements, though it is unclear how a magnetic map might be impacted by gradual drift in the Earth's magnetic field ('secular variation'). Here, using the International Geomagnetic Reference Field, we quantified how secular variation translates to movement in the implied positions at which combinations of different magnetic cues (inclination, declination and intensity) intersect, noting that the magnitude of such movements is determined by the magnitude of the movements of each of the two isolines, and the angle between their movement vectors. We propose that magnetic parameters varying in a near-parallel arrangement are unlikely to be used as a bi-coordinate map during philopatry, but that birds could use near-orthogonal magnetic gradient cues as a bi-coordinate map if augmented with navigation using more local cues. We further suggest that uni-coordinate magnetic information could also provide a philopatry mechanism that is substantially less impacted by secular variation than a bi-coordinate 'map'. We propose that between-year shifts in the position of magnetic coordinates might provide a priori predictions for changes in the breeding sites of migratory birds.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joe Wynn
- Department of Zoology, Oxford Navigation Group, 11a Mansfield Road, Oxford, OX1 3SZ, Oxfordshire, UK.
| | - Oliver Padget
- Department of Zoology, Oxford Navigation Group, 11a Mansfield Road, Oxford, OX1 3SZ, Oxfordshire, UK
| | - Joe Morford
- Department of Zoology, Oxford Navigation Group, 11a Mansfield Road, Oxford, OX1 3SZ, Oxfordshire, UK
| | - Paris Jaggers
- Department of Zoology, Oxford Navigation Group, 11a Mansfield Road, Oxford, OX1 3SZ, Oxfordshire, UK
| | - Katrina Davies
- Department of Zoology, Oxford Navigation Group, 11a Mansfield Road, Oxford, OX1 3SZ, Oxfordshire, UK
| | - Emma Borsier
- Department of Zoology, Oxford Navigation Group, 11a Mansfield Road, Oxford, OX1 3SZ, Oxfordshire, UK
| | - Tim Guilford
- Department of Zoology, Oxford Navigation Group, 11a Mansfield Road, Oxford, OX1 3SZ, Oxfordshire, UK.
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Padget O, Gillies N, Syposz M, Lockley E, Guilford T. Shearwaters sometimes take long homing detours when denied natural outward journey information. Biol Lett 2022; 18:20210503. [PMID: 35135312 PMCID: PMC8825984 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2021.0503] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The cognitive processes (learning and processing of information) underpinning the long-distance navigation of birds are poorly understood. Here, we used the homing motivation of the Manx shearwater to investigate navigational decision making in a wild bird by displacing them 294 km to the far side of a large island (the island of Ireland). Since shearwaters are reluctant to fly over land, the island blocked the direct route home, forcing a navigational decision. Further still, on the far side of the obstacle, we chose a release site where the use of local knowledge could facilitate a 20% improvement in route efficiency if shearwaters were able to anticipate and avoid a large inlet giving the appearance of open water in the home direction. We found that no shearwater took the most efficient initial route home, but instead oriented in the home direction (even once the obstacle became visible). Upon reaching the obstacle, four shearwaters subsequently circumnavigated the land mass via the long route, travelling a further 900 km as a result. Hence, despite readily orienting homewards immediately after displacement, shearwaters seem unaware of the scale of the obstacle formed by a large land mass despite this being a prominent feature of their regular foraging environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Oliver Padget
- Zoology Department, University of Oxford, Oxford, Oxfordshire, UK
| | - Natasha Gillies
- Zoology Department, University of Oxford, Oxford, Oxfordshire, UK
| | - Martyna Syposz
- Zoology Department, University of Oxford, Oxford, Oxfordshire, UK
| | | | - Tim Guilford
- Zoology Department, University of Oxford, Oxford, Oxfordshire, UK
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10
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Healy SD, Patton BW. It Began in Ponds and Rivers: Charting the Beginnings of the Ecology of Fish Cognition. Front Vet Sci 2022; 9:823143. [PMID: 35187149 PMCID: PMC8850302 DOI: 10.3389/fvets.2022.823143] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/26/2021] [Accepted: 01/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
But fish cognitive ecology did not begin in rivers and streams. Rather, one of the starting points for work on fish cognitive ecology was work done on the use of visual cues by homing pigeons. Prior to working with fish, Victoria Braithwaite helped to establish that homing pigeons rely not just on magnetic and olfactory cues but also on visual cues for successful return to their home loft. Simple, elegant experiments on homing established Victoria's ability to develop experimental manipulations to examine the role of visual cues in navigation by fish in familiar areas. This work formed the basis of a rich seam of work whereby a fish's ecology was used to propose hypotheses and predictions as to preferred cue use, and then cognitive abilities in a variety of fish species, from model systems (Atlantic salmon and sticklebacks) to the Panamanian Brachyraphis episcopi. Cognitive ecology in fish led to substantial work on fish pain and welfare, but was never left behind, with some of Victoria's last work addressed to determining the neural instantiation of cognitive variation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Susan D. Healy
- Centre for Biological Diversity, School of Biology, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, United Kingdom
- *Correspondence: Susan D. Healy
| | - B. Wren Patton
- Department of Ecosystem Science and Management, Penn State University, State College, PA, United States
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11
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Patrick SC, Assink JD, Basille M, Clusella-Trullas S, Clay TA, den Ouden OFC, Joo R, Zeyl JN, Benhamou S, Christensen-Dalsgaard J, Evers LG, Fayet AL, Köppl C, Malkemper EP, Martín López LM, Padget O, Phillips RA, Prior MK, Smets PSM, van Loon EE. Infrasound as a Cue for Seabird Navigation. Front Ecol Evol 2021. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2021.740027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Seabirds are amongst the most mobile of all animal species and spend large amounts of their lives at sea. They cross vast areas of ocean that appear superficially featureless, and our understanding of the mechanisms that they use for navigation remains incomplete, especially in terms of available cues. In particular, several large-scale navigational tasks, such as homing across thousands of kilometers to breeding sites, are not fully explained by visual, olfactory or magnetic stimuli. Low-frequency inaudible sound, i.e., infrasound, is ubiquitous in the marine environment. The spatio-temporal consistency of some components of the infrasonic wavefield, and the sensitivity of certain bird species to infrasonic stimuli, suggests that infrasound may provide additional cues for seabirds to navigate, but this remains untested. Here, we propose a framework to explore the importance of infrasound for navigation. We present key concepts regarding the physics of infrasound and review the physiological mechanisms through which infrasound may be detected and used. Next, we propose three hypotheses detailing how seabirds could use information provided by different infrasound sources for navigation as an acoustic beacon, landmark, or gradient. Finally, we reflect on strengths and limitations of our proposed hypotheses, and discuss several directions for future work. In particular, we suggest that hypotheses may be best tested by combining conceptual models of navigation with empirical data on seabird movements and in-situ infrasound measurements.
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12
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Slagsvold T, Wiebe KL. Use of landmarks for nest site choice and small-scale navigation to the nest in birds. BEHAVIOUR 2021. [DOI: 10.1163/1568539x-bja10091] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
Nest sites of animals are often concealed to keep vulnerable offspring from being detected by predators. Parents may use landmarks near the nest to relocate it quickly. We allowed blue tits (Cyanistes caeruleus) to choose between two nest boxes fixed on the same tree with either none, the same, or different white painted markings. Surprisingly, the female brought material to both boxes and sometimes laid eggs in both. In a second experiment, we let pied flycatchers (Ficedula hypoleuca) and great tits (Parus major) become familiar with a marking on the initial nest box and then let them choose between two new nest boxes erected on different, nearby trees. Neither species preferred the box with the matching mark. In nature, the birds may locate the correct entrance of a cavity using other landmarks near the nest opening, like branches and the height of the cavity opening above the ground.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tore Slagsvold
- Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis (CEES), Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Karen L. Wiebe
- Department of Biology, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada
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Collet J, Weimerskirch H. Albatrosses can memorize locations of predictable fishing boats but favour natural foraging. Proc Biol Sci 2020; 287:20200958. [PMID: 32752984 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2020.0958] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Human activities generate food attracting many animals worldwide, causing major conservation issues. The spatio-temporal predictability of anthropogenic resources could reduce search costs for animals and mediate their attractiveness. We investigated this through GPS tracking in breeding black-browed albatrosses attracted to fishing boats. We tested for answers to the following questions. (i) Can future boat locations be anticipated from cues available to birds? (ii) Are birds able to appropriately use these cues to increase encounters? (iii) How frequently do birds use these cues? Boats were spatially persistent: birds searching in the direction where they previously attended boats would encounter twice as many boats compared with following a random direction strategy. A large proportion of birds did not use this cue: across pairs of consecutive trips (n = 85), 51% of birds switched their foraging direction irrespective of previous boat encounters. Still, 15 birds (27%) were observed to closely approach (approx. 0.1-1 km) where they previously attended a boat while boats were no longer there. This is less than the distance expected by chance (approx. 10-100 km), based on permutation control procedures accounting for individual-specific spatial consistency, suggesting individuals could memorize where they encountered boats across consecutive trips. We conclude albatrosses were able to exploit predictive cues from recent boat encounters but most favoured alternative resources.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julien Collet
- Centre d'Etudes Biologiques de Chizé, UMR 7372 CNRS-Université de la Rochelle, 79360 Villiers-en-Bois, France.,Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, 10a Mansfield Road, OX1 3QT, Oxford, UK
| | - Henri Weimerskirch
- Centre d'Etudes Biologiques de Chizé, UMR 7372 CNRS-Université de la Rochelle, 79360 Villiers-en-Bois, France
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Shearwaters know the direction and distance home but fail to encode intervening obstacles after free-ranging foraging trips. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2019; 116:21629-21633. [PMID: 31591238 PMCID: PMC6815147 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1903829116] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Procellariiform seabirds homing from distant foraging locations present a natural situation in which the homing route can become obstructed by islands or peninsulas because birds will not travel long distances over land. By measuring initial orientation from Global Positioning System (GPS) tracks during homing, we found that the Manx shearwater fails to encode such obstacles while homing, implying a navigation system that encodes the direction of home rather than a learned route. Nonetheless, shearwaters timed their journeys home, implying that their navigational system provides them with information about both direction and distance home, providing evidence that for routine, yet long-distance navigation, seabirds probably ascertain homeward direction by comparing their current position and the location of home with 2 or more intersecting field gradients. While displacement experiments have been powerful for determining the sensory basis of homing navigation in birds, they have left unresolved important cognitive aspects of navigation such as what birds know about their location relative to home and the anticipated route. Here, we analyze the free-ranging Global Positioning System (GPS) tracks of a large sample (n = 707) of Manx shearwater, Puffinus puffinus, foraging trips to investigate, from a cognitive perspective, what a wild, pelagic seabird knows as it begins to home naturally. By exploiting a kind of natural experimental contrast (journeys with or without intervening obstacles) we first show that, at the start of homing, sometimes hundreds of kilometers from the colony, shearwaters are well oriented in the homeward direction, but often fail to encode intervening barriers over which they will not fly (islands or peninsulas), constrained to flying farther as a result. Second, shearwaters time their homing journeys, leaving earlier in the day when they have farther to go, and this ability to judge distance home also apparently ignores intervening obstacles. Thus, at the start of homing, shearwaters appear to be making navigational decisions using both geographic direction and distance to the goal. Since we find no decrease in orientation accuracy with trip length, duration, or tortuosity, path integration mechanisms cannot account for these findings. Instead, our results imply that a navigational mechanism used to direct natural large-scale movements in wild pelagic seabirds has map-like properties and is probably based on large-scale gradients.
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