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Helm B, Liedvogel M. Avian migration clocks in a changing world. J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol 2024; 210:691-716. [PMID: 38305877 PMCID: PMC11226503 DOI: 10.1007/s00359-023-01688-w] [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: 05/16/2023] [Revised: 12/13/2023] [Accepted: 12/22/2023] [Indexed: 02/03/2024]
Abstract
Avian long-distance migration requires refined programming to orchestrate the birds' movements on annual temporal and continental spatial scales. Programming is particularly important as long-distance movements typically anticipate future environmental conditions. Hence, migration has long been of particular interest in chronobiology. Captivity studies using a proxy, the shift to nocturnality during migration seasons (i.e., migratory restlessness), have revealed circannual and circadian regulation, as well as an innate sense of direction. Thanks to rapid development of tracking technology, detailed information from free-flying birds, including annual-cycle data and actograms, now allows relating this mechanistic background to behaviour in the wild. Likewise, genomic approaches begin to unravel the many physiological pathways that contribute to migration. Despite these advances, it is still unclear how migration programmes are integrated with specific environmental conditions experienced during the journey. Such knowledge is imminently important as temporal environments undergo rapid anthropogenic modification. Migratory birds as a group are not dealing well with the changes, yet some species show remarkable adjustments at behavioural and genetic levels. Integrated research programmes and interdisciplinary collaborations are needed to understand the range of responses of migratory birds to environmental change, and more broadly, the functioning of timing programmes under natural conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Barbara Helm
- Swiss Ornithological Institute, Bird Migration Unit, Seerose 1, CH-6204, Sempach, Schweiz.
| | - Miriam Liedvogel
- Institute of Avian Research, An Der Vogelwarte 21, 26386, Wilhelmshaven, Germany
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Ding P, Song Z, Liu Y, Székely T, Shi L, Turghan MA. Variations in the Reproductive Strategies of Different Charadrius alexandrinus Populations in Xinjiang, China. Animals (Basel) 2023; 13:2260. [PMID: 37508039 PMCID: PMC10376040 DOI: 10.3390/ani13142260] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/16/2023] [Revised: 07/04/2023] [Accepted: 07/05/2023] [Indexed: 07/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Due to the influence of bio-geographical and environmental factors, as well as anthropogenic landscape features, organisms show different reproductive strategies among different populations. There is a lack of detailed information on the reproductive biology of Kentish plover Charadrius alexandrinus in arid lands in Central Asia. In this study, we summarized the characteristics of the reproductive biology of three geographically distinct plover populations in Aibi Lake in northwestern Xinjiang, Taitema Lake in southern Xinjiang and artificial reservoirs around Urumqi City in northern Xinjiang, based on 440 eggs from 158 nests observed and analyzed from April to July of 2019 and 2020. We found that there was no significant difference in clutch size among the three populations. However, the egg size of the Taitema Lake population was significantly larger than those of the other two populations, whilst the egg volume and clutch volume of the artificial reservoirs' populations were significantly larger than that of Aibi Lake. With the postponement of laying dates, the northern and northwestern populations showed the characteristics of a small clutch size and a relatively small egg size, respectively, and a decrease in reproductive output. The heavier female plovers in Taitema Lake laid eggs earlier, and there was a significantly positive correlation between female body mass and clutch size and egg size. The tarsometatarsus length of the female plovers was significantly positively correlated with the reproductive output in all three populations. The model selection results show that female body size and ambient temperature restrict the egg size and reproductive output of Kentish plovers, which is consistent with the upper limit hypothesis of the maternal condition and maternal constraint. Our data support the hypothesis that Kentish plovers show distinct flexibility in their breeding strategies to cope with the harsh natural environment in the arid lands of Xinjiang, China. The results of a relatively high average clutch size and average egg size imply that the saline wetlands of Western China are important breeding habitats for Kentish plovers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peng Ding
- College of Animal Sciences, Xinjiang Agricultural University, Urumqi 830052, China
| | - Zitan Song
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, School of Ecology, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China
| | - Yang Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, School of Ecology, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China
| | - Tamás Székely
- Milner Centre for Evolution, Department of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Bath, Bath BA1 7AY, UK
- Department of Evolutionary Zoology, University of Debrecen, 4032 Debrecen, Hungary
| | - Lei Shi
- College of Animal Sciences, Xinjiang Agricultural University, Urumqi 830052, China
| | - Mardan Aghabey Turghan
- State Key Laboratory of Oasis and Desert Ecology, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi 830011, China
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Verhoeven MA, Loonstra AHJ, McBride AD, Kaspersma W, Hooijmeijer JCEW, Both C, Senner NR, Piersma T. Age-dependent timing and routes demonstrate developmental plasticity in a long-distance migratory bird. J Anim Ecol 2021; 91:566-579. [PMID: 34822170 PMCID: PMC9299929 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.13641] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2020] [Accepted: 11/18/2021] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
Longitudinal tracking studies have revealed consistent differences in the migration patterns of individuals from the same populations. The sources or processes causing this individual variation are largely unresolved. As a result, it is mostly unknown how much, how fast and when animals can adjust their migrations to changing environments. We studied the ontogeny of migration in a long‐distance migratory shorebird, the black‐tailed godwit Limosa limosa limosa, a species known to exhibit marked individuality in the migratory routines of adults. By observing how and when these individual differences arise, we aimed to elucidate whether individual differences in migratory behaviour are inherited or emerge as a result of developmental plasticity. We simultaneously tracked juvenile and adult godwits from the same breeding area on their south‐ and northward migrations. To determine how and when individual differences begin to arise, we related juvenile migration routes, timing and mortality rates to hatch date and hatch year. Then, we compared adult and juvenile migration patterns to identify potential age‐dependent differences. In juveniles, the timing of their first southward departure was related to hatch date. However, their subsequent migration routes, orientation, destination, migratory duration and likelihood of mortality were unrelated to the year or timing of migration, or their sex. Juveniles left the Netherlands after all tracked adults. They then flew non‐stop to West Africa more often and incurred higher mortality rates than adults. Some juveniles also took routes and visited stopover sites far outside the well‐documented adult migratory corridor. Such juveniles, however, were not more likely to die. We found that juveniles exhibited different migratory patterns than adults, but no evidence that these behaviours are under natural selection. We thus eliminate the possibility that the individual differences observed among adult godwits are present at hatch or during their first migration. This adds to the mounting evidence that animals possess the developmental plasticity to change their migration later in life in response to environmental conditions as those conditions are experienced.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mo A Verhoeven
- Conservation Ecology Group, Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - A H Jelle Loonstra
- Conservation Ecology Group, Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Alice D McBride
- Conservation Ecology Group, Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Wiebe Kaspersma
- Conservation Ecology Group, Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Jos C E W Hooijmeijer
- Conservation Ecology Group, Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Christiaan Both
- Conservation Ecology Group, Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Nathan R Senner
- Conservation Ecology Group, Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Theunis Piersma
- Conservation Ecology Group, Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.,Department of Coastal Systems, NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, Texel, The Netherlands
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Sur S, Chaturvedi K, Sharma A, Malik S, Rani S, Kumar V. Ambient temperature affects multiple drivers of physiology and behaviour: adaptation for timely departure of obligate spring migrants. J Exp Biol 2020; 223:jeb236109. [PMID: 33161378 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.236109] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/20/2020] [Accepted: 11/02/2020] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Abstract
We investigated the role of ambient temperature in departure from wintering areas of migratory black-headed buntings in spring. Birds transferred at 22 and 35°C to long days were compared with one another and with controls held on short days for indices of readiness to migrate (Zugunruhe, fattening, mass gain), levels of testosterone and gonadal recrudescence. Temperature affected the development of migratory behaviour and physiology: buntings under long days at 35°C, compared with those at 22°C, showed altered migratory behaviour (daily activity and Zugunruhe onset), and enhanced muscle growth and plasma testosterone levels, but showed no effect on testis growth. Temperature was perceived at both peripheral and central levels, and affected multiple molecular drivers culminating into the migratory phenotype. This was evidenced by post-mortem comparison of the expression of 13 genes with known functions in the skin (temperature-sensitive TRP channels: trpv4 and trpm8), hypothalamus and/or midbrain (migration-linked genes: th, ddc, adcyap1 and vps13a) and flight muscles (muscle growth associated genes: ar, srd5a3, pvalb, mtor, myod, mstn and hif1a). In photostimulated birds, the expression of trpv4 in skin, th in the hypothalamus and midbrain, and srd5a3, ar, pvalb and mtor in flight muscle, in parallel with testosterone levels, was greater at 35°C than at 22°C. These results demonstrate the role of ambient temperature in development of the spring migration phenotype, and suggest that transcriptional responsiveness to temperature is a component of the overall adaptive strategy in latitudinal songbird migrants for timely departure from wintering areas in spring.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sayantan Sur
- Department of Zoology, University of Delhi, Delhi 110007, India
| | | | - Aakansha Sharma
- Department of Zoology, University of Delhi, Delhi 110007, India
| | - Shalie Malik
- Department of Zoology, University of Lucknow, Lucknow, 226007, India
| | - Sangeeta Rani
- Department of Zoology, University of Lucknow, Lucknow, 226007, India
| | - Vinod Kumar
- Department of Zoology, University of Delhi, Delhi 110007, India
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Kok EMA, Hogan JA, Piersma T. Experimental tests of a seasonally changing visual preference for habitat in a long‐distance migratory shorebird. Ethology 2020. [DOI: 10.1111/eth.13036] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Eva M. A. Kok
- Department of Coastal Systems NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research and Utrecht University Den Burg The Netherlands
- Conservation Ecology Group Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences (GELIFES) University of Groningen Groningen The Netherlands
| | - Jerry A. Hogan
- Department of Psychology University of Toronto Toronto ON Canada
| | - Theunis Piersma
- Department of Coastal Systems NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research and Utrecht University Den Burg The Netherlands
- Conservation Ecology Group Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences (GELIFES) University of Groningen Groningen The Netherlands
- Rudi Drent Chair in Global Flyway Ecology Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences (GELIFES) University of Groningen Groningen The Netherlands
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