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Goto Y, Weimerskirch H, Fukaya K, Yoda K, Naruoka M, Sato K. Albatrosses employ orientation and routing strategies similar to yacht racers. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2024; 121:e2312851121. [PMID: 38771864 PMCID: PMC11161812 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2312851121] [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: 08/15/2023] [Accepted: 03/15/2024] [Indexed: 05/23/2024] Open
Abstract
The way goal-oriented birds adjust their travel direction and route in response to wind significantly affects their travel costs. This is expected to be particularly pronounced in pelagic seabirds, which utilize a wind-dependent flight style called dynamic soaring. Dynamic soaring seabirds in situations without a definite goal, e.g. searching for prey, are known to preferentially fly with crosswinds or quartering-tailwinds to increase the speed and search area, and reduce travel costs. However, little is known about their reaction to wind when heading to a definite goal, such as homing. Homing tracks of wandering albatrosses (Diomedea exulans) vary from beelines to zigzags, which are similar to those of sailboats. Here, given that both albatrosses and sailboats travel slower in headwinds and tailwinds, we tested whether the time-minimizing strategies used by yacht racers can be compared to the locomotion patterns of wandering albatrosses. We predicted that when the goal is located upwind or downwind, albatrosses should deviate their travel directions from the goal on the mesoscale and increase the number of turns on the macroscale. Both hypotheses were supported by track data from albatrosses and racing yachts in the Southern Ocean confirming that albatrosses qualitatively employ the same strategy as yacht racers. Nevertheless, albatrosses did not strictly minimize their travel time, likely making their flight robust against wind fluctuations to reduce flight costs. Our study provides empirical evidence of tacking in albatrosses and demonstrates that man-made movement strategies provide a new perspective on the laws underlying wildlife movement.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yusuke Goto
- Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Nagoya University, Furo, Chikusa, Nagoya464-8601, Japan
| | - Henri Weimerskirch
- Centre d’Etudes Biologiques Chizé (CEBC), UMR 7372 CNRS–Université de la Rochelle, Villiers En Bois79360, France
| | - Keiichi Fukaya
- National Institute for Environmental Studies, Tsukuba, Ibaraki305-8506, Japan
| | - Ken Yoda
- Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Nagoya University, Furo, Chikusa, Nagoya464-8601, Japan
| | - Masaru Naruoka
- Aeronautical Technology Directorate, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Mitaka, Tokyo181-0015, Japan
| | - Katsufumi Sato
- Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, The University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Chiba277-8564, Japan
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Ventura F, Granadeiro JP, Catry P, Gjerdrum C, De Pascalis F, Viveiros F, Silva I, Menezes D, Paiva VH, Silva MC. Allochrony is shaped by foraging niche segregation rather than adaptation to the windscape in long-ranging seabirds. MOVEMENT ECOLOGY 2024; 12:27. [PMID: 38566221 PMCID: PMC10988818 DOI: 10.1186/s40462-024-00463-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/19/2023] [Accepted: 02/26/2024] [Indexed: 04/04/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Ecological segregation allows populations to reduce competition and coexist in sympatry. Using as model organisms two closely related gadfly petrels endemic to the Madeira archipelago and breeding with a two month allochrony, we investigated how movement and foraging preferences shape ecological segregation in sympatric species. We tested the hypothesis that the breeding allochrony is underpinned by foraging niche segregation. Additionally, we investigated whether our data supported the hypothesis that allochrony is driven by species-specific adaptations to different windscapes. METHODS We present contemporaneous tracking and stable isotopes datasets for Zino's (Pterodroma madeira) and Desertas (Pterodroma deserta) petrels. We quantified the year-round distribution of the petrels, characterised their isotopic niches and quantified their habitat preferences using machine learning (boosted regression trees). Hidden-Markov-models were used to investigate the effect of wind on the central-place movement speed, and a simulation framework was developed to investigate whether each species breeds at times when the windscape is most favourable to sustain their trips. RESULTS Despite substantial spatial overlap throughout the year, the petrels exhibited diverging isotopic niches and habitat preferences during breeding. Both species used a vast pelagic region in the North Atlantic, but targeted two different mesopelagic ecoregions and showed a preference for habitats mostly differing in sea surface temperature values. Based on our simulation framework, we found that both species would perform trips of similar speed during the other species' breeding season. CONCLUSIONS The different breeding schedules between the species are underpinned by differences in foraging habitat preferences and adaptation to the local environment, rather than to the windscape. Nevertheless, the larger Desertas petrels exploited significantly windier conditions, potentially unsustainable for the smaller Zino's petrels. Furthermore, due to larger mass and likely higher fasting endurance, Desertas petrels engaged in central-place-foraging movements that covered more ground and lasted longer than those of Zino's petrels. Ultimately, patterns of ecological segregation in sympatric seabirds are shaped by a complex interplay between foraging and movement ecology, where morphology, foraging trip regulation and fasting endurance have an important- yet poorly understood- role.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francesco Ventura
- Biology Department, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA, USA.
| | - José Pedro Granadeiro
- CESAM, Departamento de Biologia Animal, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Campo Grande, 1749-016, Lisboa, Portugal
| | - Paulo Catry
- MARE - Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre / ARNET - Aquatic Research Network, Ispa - Instituto Universitário, Rua Jardim do Tabaco 34, 1149-041, Lisboa, Portugal
| | - Carina Gjerdrum
- Canadian Wildlife Service, Environment and Climate Change Canada, B2Y 2N6, Dartmouth, NS, Canada
| | - Federico De Pascalis
- Area Avifauna Migratrice, Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale (ISPRA), Ozzano dell'Emilia, Italy
| | - Filipe Viveiros
- Parque Natural da Madeira, Quinta do Bom Sucesso, Caminho do Meio, 9050-251, Funchal, Madeira, Portugal
| | - Isamberto Silva
- Parque Natural da Madeira, Quinta do Bom Sucesso, Caminho do Meio, 9050-251, Funchal, Madeira, Portugal
| | - Dilia Menezes
- Parque Natural da Madeira, Quinta do Bom Sucesso, Caminho do Meio, 9050-251, Funchal, Madeira, Portugal
| | - Vítor H Paiva
- MARE - Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre / ARNET - Aquatic Research Network, Department of Life Sciences, University of Coimbra, Calçada Martim de Freitas, 3000-456, Coimbra, Portugal
| | - Mónica C Silva
- Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes (cE3c), Departamento de Biologia Animal, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Campo Grande, 1749-016, Lisboa, Portugal
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Thorne LH. Albatrosses orient toward infrasound while foraging. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2023; 120:e2314980120. [PMID: 37812705 PMCID: PMC10589637 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2314980120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/11/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Lesley H. Thorne
- School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY11794-5000
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Benhamou S, Courbin N. Accounting for central place foraging constraints in habitat selection studies. Ecology 2023; 104:e4134. [PMID: 37386731 DOI: 10.1002/ecy.4134] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2022] [Revised: 04/25/2023] [Accepted: 06/13/2023] [Indexed: 07/01/2023]
Abstract
Habitat selection studies contrast actual space use with the expected use under the null hypothesis of no selection (hereafter neutral use). Neutral use is most often equated to the relative frequencies with which environmental features occur. This generates a considerable bias when studying habitat selection by foragers that perform numerous trips back and forth to a central place (CP). Indeed, the increased space use close to the CP with respect to distant places reflects a mechanical effect, rather than a true selection for the closest habitats. Yet, correctly estimating habitat selection by CP foragers is of paramount importance for a better understanding of their ecology and to properly plan conservation actions. We show that including the distance to the CP as a covariate in unconditional Resource Selection Functions, as applied in several studies, is ineffective to correct for the bias. This bias can be eliminated only by contrasting the actual use to an appropriate neutral use that considers the CP forager behavior. We also show that the need to specify an appropriate neutral use overall distribution can be bypassed by relying on a conditional approach, where the neutral use is assessed locally regardless of the distance to the CP.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simon Benhamou
- Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive, CNRS, Montpellier, France
| | - Nicolas Courbin
- Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive, CNRS, Montpellier, France
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Mohamed A, Taylor GK, Watkins S, Windsor SP. Opportunistic soaring by birds suggests new opportunities for atmospheric energy harvesting by flying robots. J R Soc Interface 2022; 19:20220671. [PMID: 36415974 PMCID: PMC9682310 DOI: 10.1098/rsif.2022.0671] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
The use of flying robots (drones) is increasing rapidly, but their utility is limited by high power demand, low specific energy storage and poor gust tolerance. By contrast, birds demonstrate long endurance, harvesting atmospheric energy in environments ranging from cluttered cityscapes to open landscapes, coasts and oceans. Here, we identify new opportunities for flying robots, drawing upon the soaring flight of birds. We evaluate mechanical energy transfer in soaring from first principles and review soaring strategies encompassing the use of updrafts (thermal or orographic) and wind gradients (spatial or temporal). We examine the extent to which state-of-the-art flying robots currently use each strategy and identify several untapped opportunities including slope soaring over built environments, thermal soaring over oceans and opportunistic gust soaring. In principle, the energetic benefits of soaring are accessible to flying robots of all kinds, given atmospherically aware sensor systems, guidance strategies and gust tolerance. Hence, while there is clear scope for specialist robots that soar like albatrosses, or which use persistent thermals like vultures, the greatest untapped potential may lie in non-specialist vehicles that make flexible use of atmospheric energy through path planning and flight control, as demonstrated by generalist flyers such as gulls, kites and crows.
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Affiliation(s)
- A. Mohamed
- RMIT University, Melbourne, Victoria 3000, Australia
| | - G. K. Taylor
- Department of Biology, Oxford University, Oxford OX1 3SZ, UK
| | - S. Watkins
- RMIT University, Melbourne, Victoria 3000, Australia
| | - S. P. Windsor
- Department of Aerospace Engineering, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1TH, UK
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