Long-distance migratory birds threatened by multiple independent risks from global change

Long-distance migratory birds are often considered extreme athletes, possessing a range of traits that approach the physiological limits of vertebrate design. In addition, their movements must be carefully timed to ensure that they obtain resources of sufficient quantity and quality to satisfy their high-energy needs. Migratory birds may therefore be particularly vulnerable to global change processes that are projected to alter the quality and quantity of resource availability. Because long-distance flight requires high and sustained aerobic capacity, even minor decreases in vitality can have large negative consequences for migrants. In the light of this, we assess how current global change processes may affect the ability of birds to meet the physiological demands of migration, and suggest areas where avian physiologists may help to identify potential hazards. Predicting the consequences of global change scenarios on migrant species requires (i) reconciliation of empirical and theoretical studies of avian flight physiology; (ii) an understanding of the effects of food quality, toxicants and disease on migrant performance; and (iii) mechanistic models that integrate abiotic and biotic factors to predict migratory behaviour. Critically, a multi-dimensional concept of vitality would greatly facilitate evaluation of the impact of various global change processes on the population dynamics of migratory birds.

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Climate change and maladaptive wing shortening in a long-distance migratory bird

The Auk ◽

10.1093/auk/ukaa012 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 137 (3) ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Carolina Remacha ◽

César Rodríguez ◽

Javier de la Puente ◽

Javier Pérez-Tris

Keyword(s):

Natural Selection ◽

Global Change ◽

Wing Length ◽

Migratory Birds ◽

Migratory Bird ◽

Phenotypic Change ◽

Correlated Response ◽

Summer Drought ◽

Response To Selection ◽

Long Distance

Abstract Contemporary phenotypic trends associated with global change are widely documented, but whether such trends always denote trait optimization under changed conditions remains obscure. Natural selection has shaped the wings of long-distance migratory birds to minimize the costs of transport, and new optimal wing shapes could be promoted by migration patterns altered due to global change. Alternatively, wing shape could vary as a correlated response to selection on other traits favored in a changing environment, eventually moving away from the optimal shape for migration and increasing transport costs. Data from 20 yr of monitoring 2 Common Nightingale (Luscinia megarhynchos) populations breeding in central Spain, where environmental conditions for breeding have deteriorated during recent decades due to increased summer drought, show that birds have reduced wing length relative to body size over the period 1995–2014. However, long-winged nightingales survived their first round-trip migration better, and the shorter the average wing length of individuals, the stronger the survival-associated natural selection favoring longer wings. Maladaptive short wings may have arisen because the mortality costs of migration are outweighed by reproductive benefits accrued by short-winged nightingales in these populations. Assuming that the phenotypic integration of morphological and reproductive adaptations of migratory birds has a genetic basis, we hypothesize that the maladaptive trend towards shorter wings may be a correlated response to selection for moderate breeding investment in drying habitat. Our results provide evidence that contemporary phenotypic change may deviate average trait values from their optima, thereby increasing our understanding of the ecological constraints underpinning adaptation to rapid global change.

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Comment on "Rapid Advance of Spring Arrival Dates in Long-Distance Migratory Birds"

Science ◽

10.1126/science.1136148 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 315 (5812) ◽

pp. 598b-598b ◽

Cited By ~ 19

Author(s):

C. Both

Keyword(s):

Migratory Birds ◽

Long Distance ◽

Rapid Advance ◽

Arrival Dates ◽

Spring Arrival

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Great flights by great snipes: long and fast non-stop migration over benign habitats

Biology Letters ◽

10.1098/rsbl.2011.0343 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 7 (6) ◽

pp. 833-835 ◽

Cited By ~ 61

Author(s):

Raymond H. G. Klaassen ◽

Thomas Alerstam ◽

Peter Carlsson ◽

James W. Fox ◽

Åke Lindström

Keyword(s):

Migratory Birds ◽

Strenuous Exercise ◽

Migration Route ◽

Long Distance ◽

Migration Strategy ◽

Ice Caps ◽

Fuel Loads ◽

Stopover Sites ◽

Ecological Barriers ◽

Suitable Habitats

Migratory land birds perform extreme endurance flights when crossing ecological barriers, such as deserts, oceans and ice-caps. When travelling over benign areas, birds are expected to migrate by shorter flight steps, since carrying the heavy fuel loads needed for long non-stop flights comes at considerable cost. Here, we show that great snipes Gallinago media made long and fast non-stop flights (4300–6800 km in 48–96 h), not only over deserts and seas but also over wide areas of suitable habitats, which represents a previously unknown migration strategy among land birds. Furthermore, the great snipes achieved very high ground speeds (15–27 m s −1 ), which was not an effect of strong tailwind support, and we know of no other animal that travels this rapidly over such a long distance. Our results demonstrate that some migratory birds are prepared to accept extreme costs of strenuous exercise and large fuel loads, even when stopover sites are available along the route and there is little tailwind assistance. A strategy of storing a lot of energy before departure, even if migration is over benign habitats, may be advantageous owing to differential conditions of fuel deposition, predation or infection risk along the migration route.

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Lower annual fecundity in long-distance migrants than in less migratory birds of temperate Europe

Journal of Ornithology ◽

10.1007/s10336-008-0348-0 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 150 (1) ◽

pp. 281-286 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Bruno Bruderer ◽

Volker Salewski

Keyword(s):

Migratory Birds ◽

Long Distance ◽

Temperate Europe

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Birds facing climate change: a qualitative model for the adaptive potential of migratory behaviour

Rivista Italiana di Ornitologia ◽

10.4081/rio.2015.197 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 85 (1) ◽

pp. 3 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Michelangelo Morganti

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Phenotypic Plasticity ◽

Migratory Birds ◽

Future Research ◽

Qualitative Model ◽

Migratory Behaviour ◽

Adaptive Potential ◽

Long Distance ◽

Genetic Determination ◽

Recent Climate

Recent climate change is altering the migratory behaviour of many bird species. An advancement in the timing of spring events and a shift in the geographical distribution have been detected for birds around the world. In particular, intra-Palearctic migratory birds have advanced arrivals in spring and shortened migratory distances by shifting northward their wintering grounds. These changes in migratory patterns are considered adaptive responses facilitating the adjustment of the life cycle to the phenological changes found in their breeding areas. However, in some cases, populations exposed to the same selective pressures do not show any appreciable adaptive change in their behaviour. Basing on the comparison of realized and non-realized adaptive changes, I propose here the formulation of a qualitative model that predicts the potential of migratory birds populations to change adaptively their migratory behaviour. The model assumes that the adaptive potential of migratory behaviour is fuelled by both genetic diversity and phenotypic plasticity. Populations of long-distance migrants are exposed to strong environmental canalization that largely eroded their phenotypic plasticity and reduced genetic variability, so that they show a very low amount of adaptive potential regarding migratory behaviour. On the contrary, partial-migrant populations have a highly varied genetic profile and are more plastic at the phenotypic level, and consequently show the highest amount of adaptive potential. Species with mainly social and mainly genetic determination of the migratory behaviour are separately treated in the model. Specific empirical models to foresee the adaptive strategies of wild bird populations that face to climate change can be derived from the general theoretical model. As example, a specific model about the shortening of migratory distances in Western European migratory bird is presented. Finally, a number of future research lines on the topic of adaptive potential of migratory behaviour are discussed, including some examples of concrete study cases. In conclusion, partial-migration emerge as the less known system and future research efforts on this topic are expected to be especially fruitful.

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Coupled Dynamics of Lemmings and Long-Distance Migratory Birds

Biological Resources and Migration ◽

10.1007/978-3-662-06083-4_22 ◽

2004 ◽

pp. 219-228

Author(s):

Noél Holmgren

Keyword(s):

Migratory Birds ◽

Long Distance ◽

Coupled Dynamics

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Photoperiodic response may facilitate adaptation to climatic change in long-distance migratory birds

Proceedings of The Royal Society B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rsbl.2003.0005 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 270 (suppl_1) ◽

Cited By ~ 22

Author(s):

Timothy Coppack ◽

Francisco Pulido ◽

Michael Czisch ◽

Dorothee P. Auer ◽

Peter Berthold

Keyword(s):

Climatic Change ◽

Migratory Birds ◽

Photoperiodic Response ◽

Long Distance

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Climate change relaxes the time constraints for late-born offspring in a long-distance migrant

Proceedings of The Royal Society B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rspb.2016.1366 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 283 (1839) ◽

pp. 20161366 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Barbara M. Tomotani ◽

Phillip Gienapp ◽

Domien G. M. Beersma ◽

Marcel E. Visser

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Annual Cycle ◽

Migratory Birds ◽

Climate Change Impacts ◽

Egg Laying ◽

Time Constraints ◽

Long Distance ◽

Hatch Date ◽

Breeding Bird ◽

And Migration

Animals in seasonal environments need to fit their annual-cycle stages, such as moult and migration, in a tight schedule. Climate change affects the phenology of organisms and causes advancements in timing of these annual-cycle stages but not necessarily at the same rates. For migratory birds, this can lead to more severe or more relaxed time constraints in the time from fledging to migration, depending on the relative shifts of the different stages. We tested how a shift in hatch date, which has advanced due to climate change, impacts the organization of the birds' whole annual cycle. We experimentally advanced and delayed the hatch date of pied flycatcher chicks in the field and then measured the timing of their annual-cycle stages in a controlled laboratory environment. Hatch date affected the timing of moult and pre-migratory fattening, but not migration. Early-born birds hence had a longer time to fatten up than late-born ones; the latter reduced their interval between onset of fattening and migration to be able to migrate at the same time as the early-born birds. This difference in time constraints for early- and late-born individuals may explain why early-born offspring have a higher probability to recruit as a breeding bird. Climate change-associated advancements of avian egg-lay dates, which in turn advances hatch dates, can thus reduce the negative fitness consequences of reproducing late, thereby reducing the selection for early egg-laying migratory birds.

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