GPS-telemetry unveils the regular high-elevation crossing of the Himalayas by a migratory raptor: implications for definition of a “Central Asian Flyway”

Abstract Remote technologies are producing leapfrog advances in identifying the routes and connectivity of migratory species, which are still unknown for hundreds of taxa, especially Asian ones. Here, we used GPS-telemetry to uncover the migration routes and breeding areas of the massive population of migratory Black-eared kites wintering around the megacity of Delhi-India, which hosts the largest raptor concentration of the world. Kites migrated for 3300–4800 km along a narrow corridor, crossing the Himalayas at extremely high elevations (up to > 6500 m a.s.l.) by the K2 of the Karakoram Range and travelled long periods at elevations above 3500 m. They then crossed/circumvented the Taklamakan Desert and Tian Shan Range to reach their unknown breeding quarters at the intersection between Kazakhstan, Russia, China and Mongolia. Route configuration seemed to be shaped by dominant wind support and barrier avoidance. Wintering ranges were smaller than breeding ranges and concentrated around Delhi, likely in response to massive human food-subsidies. Our results illustrate that high-elevation crossings by soaring migrants may be more common than previously appreciated and suggest the delineation of a hitherto poorly-appreciated “Central Asian Flyway”, which must funnel hundreds of thousands of migrants from central Asia into the Indian subcontinent via multiple modes of the Himalayan crossing.

Download Full-text

Does Hyperoxia Restrict Pyrenean Rock Lizards Iberolacerta bonnali to High Elevations?

Diversity ◽

10.3390/d13050200 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (5) ◽

pp. 200

Author(s):

Eric J. Gangloff ◽

Sierra Spears ◽

Laura Kouyoumdjian ◽

Ciara Pettit ◽

Fabien Aubret

Keyword(s):

High Elevation ◽

Conservation Strategy ◽

The Novel ◽

Thermal Physiology ◽

Treatment Groups ◽

Thermal Performance Curve ◽

And Performance ◽

Thermal Preferences ◽

High Elevations ◽

Intense Radiation

Ectothermic animals living at high elevation often face interacting challenges, including temperature extremes, intense radiation, and hypoxia. While high-elevation specialists have developed strategies to withstand these constraints, the factors preventing downslope migration are not always well understood. As mean temperatures continue to rise and climate patterns become more extreme, such translocation may be a viable conservation strategy for some populations or species, yet the effects of novel conditions, such as relative hyperoxia, have not been well characterised. Our study examines the effect of downslope translocation on ectothermic thermal physiology and performance in Pyrenean rock lizards (Iberolacerta bonnali) from high elevation (2254 m above sea level). Specifically, we tested whether models of organismal performance developed from low-elevation species facing oxygen restriction (e.g., hierarchical mechanisms of thermal limitation hypothesis) can be applied to the opposite scenario, when high-elevation organisms face hyperoxia. Lizards were split into two treatment groups: one group was maintained at a high elevation (2877 m ASL) and the other group was transplanted to low elevation (432 m ASL). In support of hyperoxia representing a constraint, we found that lizards transplanted to the novel oxygen environment of low elevation exhibited decreased thermal preferences and that the thermal performance curve for sprint speed shifted, resulting in lower performance at high body temperatures. While the effects of hypoxia on thermal physiology are well-explored, few studies have examined the effects of hyperoxia in an ecological context. Our study suggests that high-elevation specialists may be hindered in such novel oxygen environments and thus constrained in their capacity for downslope migration.

Download Full-text

Pathogenic Variability of Pyricularia grisea from the High- and Mid-Elevation Zones of Bhutan

Phytopathology ◽

10.1094/phyto.2000.90.6.621 ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 90 (6) ◽

pp. 621-628 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

Thinlay ◽

R. S. Zeigler ◽

M. R. Finckh

Keyword(s):

Rice Cultivar ◽

High Elevation ◽

Individual Plant ◽

Growing Seasons ◽

Reaction Index ◽

Agroecological Zones ◽

Pathogenic Variability ◽

Almost All ◽

High Elevations ◽

Virulence Spectrum

Thirty isolates of P. griseacollected from rice during a blast epidemic in 1995 in the high (1,800 to 2,600 m) and middle (1,200 to 1,800 m) elevations of Bhutan and 80 isolates collected from one rice cultivar from two high- and two mid-elevation sites in 1996 were analyzed for virulence. Differential varieties were indica CO39, with five near-isogenic lines (NILs) for resistance genes in the genetic background of CO39, and japonica Lijiangxintuanheigu (LTH), with five NILs for LTH. Twelve selected Bhutanese landraces also were studied. In addition, 10 blast nurseries consisting of the NIL sets, important local landraces, and representatives of international differential groups were established in the 1996 and 1997 growing seasons in the mid- and high-elevation agroecological zones. The 110 isolates were differentiated into 53 pathotypes based on the 2 NIL sets. Thirteen isolates were avirulent on all of the NILs but were compatible with some landraces. Several isolates were able to attack one of the NILs of CO39 but not CO39. These results strongly suggest that both CO39 and LTH possess previously unidentified resistance. The landraces were not uniform in their reactions to the isolates. When a reaction index taking into account all individual plant reactions was used, isolates that had been assigned to the same pathotype could be further differentiated, indicating that the NIL sets could not completely discriminate virulences in Bhutanese P. grisea populations. In the trap nurseries, disease was always present in the middle elevations, but disease was very low during July 1996 in the high elevations and only present during August and September 1997. Almost all varietal groups were more frequently attacked in the middle than in the high elevations, indicating that the virulence spectrum is wider and the conduciveness of the environment is greater in the middle elevations. Landraces from the high elevations were most susceptible, followed by international differential groups 7 and 8. The results suggest that selection has yielded landraces with more complete and complex resistance in the more disease-conducive mid-elevation environment. At the same time, the pathogen population also possesses a wider virulence spectrum in that environment.

Download Full-text

High turn-over rates at the upper range limit and elevational source-sink dynamics in a widespread songbird

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-021-98100-x ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Martin U. Grüebler ◽

Johann von Hirschheydt ◽

Fränzi Korner-Nievergelt

Keyword(s):

Environmental Gradients ◽

Elevational Gradient ◽

High Elevation ◽

Range Limit ◽

Apparent Survival ◽

Breeding Sites ◽

Mobile Species ◽

Source Sink ◽

Turn Over ◽

High Elevations

AbstractThe formation of an upper distributional range limit for species breeding along mountain slopes is often based on environmental gradients resulting in changing demographic rates towards high elevations. However, we still lack an empirical understanding of how the interplay of demographic parameters forms the upper range limit in highly mobile species. Here, we study apparent survival and within-study area dispersal over a 700 m elevational gradient in barn swallows (Hirundo rustica) by using 15 years of capture-mark-recapture data. Annual apparent survival of adult breeding birds decreased while breeding dispersal probability of adult females, but not males increased towards the upper range limit. Individuals at high elevations dispersed to farms situated at elevations lower than would be expected by random dispersal. These results suggest higher turn-over rates of breeding individuals at high elevations, an elevational increase in immigration and thus, within-population source-sink dynamics between low and high elevations. The formation of the upper range limit therefore is based on preference for low-elevation breeding sites and immigration to high elevations. Thus, shifts of the upper range limit are not only affected by changes in the quality of high-elevation habitats but also by factors affecting the number of immigrants produced at low elevations.

Download Full-text

Nomad Migration in Central Asia

After Alexander: Central Asia before Islam ◽

10.5871/bacad/9780197263846.003.0004 ◽

2007 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

KAZIM ABDULLAEV

Keyword(s):

Central Asia ◽

Second Century ◽

The Other ◽

Cultural Identities ◽

Migration Routes ◽

Central Asian ◽

History Of ◽

And Migration

This chapter examines the ethnic and cultural identities and migration routes of nomadic tribes in Central Asia. It explains that the migration of Central Asian nomads, particularly into Transoxiana, can be divided into two categories. One is the long trans-regional route ascribable to the migration of the Yuezhi tribe from the valley of Gansu to the territory north of the Oxus River, and the other is the local migration attributed to the tribes such as the Dahae, Sakaraules, and Appasiakes. The chapter suggests that the events which determined nomad migration are connected with the history of the northern and western borders of Han China in the second century BC.

Download Full-text

Air temperature variability in a high-elevation Himalayan catchment

Annals of Glaciology ◽

10.3189/2016aog71a076 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 57 (71) ◽

pp. 212-222 ◽

Cited By ~ 24

Author(s):

Martin Heynen ◽

Evan Miles ◽

Silvan Ragettli ◽

Pascal Buri ◽

Walter W. Immerzeel ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Air Temperature ◽

Land Surface ◽

Monsoon Season ◽

High Elevation ◽

Catchment Scale ◽

Diurnal Variability ◽

Atmosphere Interaction ◽

Temperature Seasonality ◽

Lapse Rates ◽

High Elevations

AbstractAir temperature is a key control of processes affecting snow and glaciers in high-elevation catchments, including melt, snowfall and sublimation. It is therefore a key input variable to models of land–surface–atmosphere interaction. Despite this importance, its spatial variability is poorly understood and simple assumptions are made to extrapolate it from point observations to the catchment scale. We use a dataset of 2.75 years of air temperature measurements (from May 2012 to November 2014) at a network of up to 27 locations in the Langtang River, Nepal, catchment to investigate air temperature seasonality and consistency between years. We use observations from high elevations and from the easternmost section of the basin to corroborate previous findings of shallow lapse rates. Seasonal variability is strong, with shallowest lapse rates during the monsoon season. Diurnal variability is also strong and should be taken into account since processes such as melt have a pronounced diurnal variability. Use of seasonal lapse rates seems crucial for glacio-hydrological modelling, but seasonal lapse rates seem stable over the 2–3 years investigated. Lateral variability at transects across valley is high and dominated by aspect, with south-facing sites being warmer than north-facing sites and deviations from the fitted lapse rates of up to several degrees. Local factors (e.g. topographic shading) can reduce or enhance this effect. The interplay of radiation, aspect and elevation should be further investigated with high-elevation transects.

Download Full-text

Postglacial vegetation dynamics at high elevation from Fairy Lake in the northern Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, Montana, USA

Quaternary Research ◽

10.1017/qua.2019.9 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 92 (2) ◽

pp. 365-380 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

James V. Benes ◽

Virginia Iglesias ◽

Cathy Whitlock

Keyword(s):

Fire History ◽

Late Glacial ◽

High Elevation ◽

Subalpine Forest ◽

Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem ◽

Southwestern Montana ◽

History Of ◽

Greater Yellowstone ◽

High Elevations ◽

Early Late

AbstractThe postglacial vegetation and fire history of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem is known from low and middle elevations, but little is known about high elevations. Paleoecologic data from Fairy Lake in the Bridger Range, southwestern Montana, provide a new high-elevation record that spans the last 15,000 yr. The records suggest a period of tundra-steppe vegetation prior to ca. 13,700 cal yr BP was followed by open Picea forest at ca. 11,200 cal yr BP. Pinus-Pseudotsuga parkland was present after ca. 9200 cal yr BP, when conditions were warmer/drier than present. It was replaced by mixed-conifer parkland at ca. 5000 cal yr BP. Present-day subalpine forest established at ca. 2800 cal yr BP. Increased avalanche or mass-wasting activity during the early late-glacial period, the Younger Dryas chronozone, and Neoglaciation suggest cool, wet periods. Sites at different elevations in the region show (1) synchronous vegetation responses to late-glacial warming; (2) widespread xerothermic forests and frequent fires in the early-to-middle Holocene; and (3) a trend to forest closure during late-Holocene cooling. Conditions in the Bridger Range were, however, wetter than other areas during the early Holocene. Across the Northern Rockies, postglacial warming progressed from west to east, reflecting range-specific responses to insolation-driven changes in climate.

Download Full-text

Arabic, the Arab Middle East, and the Definition of Muslim Identity in Twentieth Century India

Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society ◽

10.1017/s1356186300016436 ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 8 (1) ◽

pp. 59-81 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Muhammad Qasim Zaman

Keyword(s):

Twentieth Century ◽

Middle East ◽

Indian Subcontinent ◽

Nation State ◽

Muslim Identity ◽

Ruling Elite ◽

Definition Of ◽

Sizeable Minority ◽

Arab Middle East

The “foreignness” of Islam in India is a familiar theme in the rhetoric of contemporary-Hindu fundamentalism. The numerical majority of Hindus in India is taken to mean that the nation-state ought to be founded on ideals and institutions defined as authentically “Hindu”, that India is the land of the Hindus, and that it must be ruled only by them. This ideology evidently leaves little room for non-Hindus, but especially so for Muslims, who ruled large parts of the Indian subcontinent for several centuries and who still constitute a sizeable minority in India. It is argued, for instance, that as the ruling elite in India, Muslims not only exploited the Hindus, they never even thought of themselves as “really” Indian and should not consequently be considered as such. For all the centrality of the Muslim Other to constructions of Hindu fundamentalism, the appeal and success of the latter is predicated on the systematic exclusion, if not the expulsion, of Muslims from the Hindu nation-state.

Download Full-text

Space and habitat use by the threatened Gaspé caribou in southeastern Quebec

Canadian Journal of Zoology ◽

10.1139/z96-217 ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 74 (10) ◽

pp. 1922-1933 ◽

Cited By ~ 28

Author(s):

Jean-Pierre Ouellet ◽

Jean Ferron ◽

Luc Sirois

Keyword(s):

Home Range ◽

Habitat Use ◽

Adult Female ◽

Rangifer Tarandus ◽

High Elevation ◽

Altitudinal Distribution ◽

Alpine Habitat ◽

Adult Females ◽

Risk Of Predation ◽

High Elevations

The space and habitat use patterns of the threatened Gaspé caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) were documented using telemetry. Between 1987 and 1992, 701 radiolocations were recorded, primarily for adult females (n = 28). Five habitats available to caribou (hardwood, immature, mature fir, mature spruce, alpine) are described and biomass of arboreal lichen, an important winter food source, is estimated. Regardless of sex and age, almost all locations (91%) were recorded within the limits of Gaspé Provincial Park. Home-range size of adult females averaged 148 km2 (convex polygon); 95% of adult female locations were within 107 km2 and 50% within 15 km2 (harmonic mean). Home-range sizes were small and did not vary seasonally or annually. Throughout the year caribou were located more frequently than expected at high elevations (> 915 m) and less frequently than expected at low elevations (0–685 m). Consequently, alpine habitat was used more frequently than expected. Caribou concentrated their activity in two distinct areas: the alpine plateaus of Mont Albert and Mont Jacques-Cartier. No caribou used both areas (with the exception of a lone female). These two caribou groups should be viewed as two subpopulations. The biomass of arboreal lichens was greatest in mature fir and spruce stands, with 50–60 kg/ha available at a height of 4 m. The altitudinal distribution of this resource may partly explain the strong selection of high-elevation sites made by caribou in winter. Our results also support the hypothesis that cow–calf groups remain at high elevations to reduce the risk of predation by coyotes (Canis latrans) and black bears (Ursus americanus). The proximity of mature forests and alpine habitat, at high elevations, in two areas of the park may explain the small extent of adult female home ranges and the segregation of Gaspé caribou into two groups.

Download Full-text

Distribution of boreal toad populations in relation to estimated UV-B dose in Glacier National Park, Montana, USA

Canadian Journal of Zoology ◽

10.1139/z05-184 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 84 (1) ◽

pp. 98-107 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Blake R Hossack ◽

Stephen A Diamond ◽

Paul Stephen Corn

Keyword(s):

National Park ◽

Temporal Trends ◽

Ground Level ◽

High Elevation ◽

Ultraviolet B ◽

Glacier National Park ◽

Embryo Survival ◽

Breeding Sites ◽

Forest Density ◽

High Elevations

A recent increase in ultraviolet B radiation is one hypothesis advanced to explain suspected or documented declines of the boreal toad (Bufo boreas Baird and Girard, 1852) across much of the western USA, where some experiments have shown ambient UV-B can reduce embryo survival. We examined B. boreas occupancy relative to daily UV-B dose at 172 potential breeding sites in Glacier National Park, Montana, to assess whether UV-B limits the distribution of toads. Dose estimates were based on ground-level UV-B data and the effects of elevation, local topographic and vegetative features, and attenuation in the water column. We also examined temporal trends in surface UV-B and spring snowpack to determine whether populations are likely to have experienced increased UV-B exposure in recent decades. We found no support for the hypothesis that UV-B limits the distribution of populations in the park, even when we analyzed high-elevation ponds separately. Instead, toads were more likely to breed in water bodies with higher estimated UV-B doses. The lack of a detectable trend in surface UV-B since 1979, combined with earlier snow melt in the region and increasing forest density at high elevations, suggests B. boreas embryos and larvae likely have not experienced increased UV-B.

Download Full-text