Movement and Migration
Part 2
ANB 218A
Fall 2013
Outline
1. Introduction –
kinds of movement
evolutionary theory and migration
2. Concept of annual routines (life cycles) and phenotypic flexibility
3. Life history stages and how environmental conditions influence
their progression
4. Classification of environmental cues: predictable, unpredictable
5. Genetic basis for migratory traits
6. Conclusions
Outline
1. Introduction –
kinds of movement
evolutionary theory and migration
2. Concept of annual routines (life cycles) and phenotypic flexibility
3. Life history stages and how environmental conditions influence
their progression
4. Classification of environmental cues: predictable, unpredictable
5. Genetic basis for migratory traits
6. Conclusions
Environmental information can be divided into two categories
Predictable cues (reliable, temporally relevant):
Initial predictive – daylength, circannual rhythms, seasonality
Local predictive –Current environmental conditions, temperature, food,
other resources, wet / dry seasons,
geomagnetic information, planetary cues, etc
Unpredictable cues (labile, unexpected):
- Huge swings in climatic conditions, food supply,
social dominance, disease, predators
- Exposure leads to a modification of the current LH stage
Classification of environmental cues
Predictable Cues
Storm fronts/prevailing winds
Seasonal Temperature
Ocean currents
Landscapes
Celestial cues
Setting sun
Polarized light
Geomagnetic forces
Predators
Seasonal fluxes of food
Solar time cycle
Unpredictable Cues
Storms
Pollution
Disease
Loss of habitat
Change in food
Global changes
Social conditions
Early phase
Late phase
Effect of the magnetic field on orientation of
European robins, Erithacus rebecula
Autumn recoveries of Thrush Nightingale from SE Scandinavia to E Mediterranean.
Early Migration
Later Migration
Experimentals
Controls
(Kullberg et al. 2003)
Long distance migrations of marine turtles raise questions of the source of cues
Ascension Islands
Magnetic lineations along the seafloor created by fracture zones along spreading ridges
Classification of environmental cues
Predictable Cues
Storm fronts/prevailing winds
Seasonal Temperature
Ocean currents
Landscapes
Celestial cues
Setting sun
Polarized light
Geomagnetic forces
Predators
Seasonal fluxes of food
Solar time cycle
Unpredictable Cues
Storms
Pollution
Disease
Loss of habitat
Change in food
Global changes
Social conditions
Facultative responses to an unpredictable cue – Emergency life history stage
(Wingfield et al 1998)
Emergency life history stage represents interrelationships of substages
(Wingfield and Ramenofsky, 2011)
Modeling responses to unpredictable events or labile perturbation factors:
Allostatic Load.
2
Behavior
b-ENDORPHIN
Analgesia,
behavioral effects
Energy
metabolism
Immune
function
Associations of homeostasis, allostasis and physiological state
(Landys, Ramenofsky, Wingfield, 2006)
Taking an Allostatic Load Approach to the studies of migration
Meta Landys working with
Bar-tailed godwits in the
Netherlands
Departure biology of long Bar-tailed Godwits from Spring stop-over site
(Landys et al. 2002)
One might ask:
Do these peaks of corticosterone represent allostatic overload?
NO!
Model of the relationships across available energy (resources), demand
and glucocortiocoid levels
(Landys et al 2006)
Classification of environmental cues
Predictable Cues
Storm fronts/prevailing winds
Seasonal Temperature
Ocean currents
Landscapes
Celestial cues
Setting sun
Polarized light
Geomagnetic forces
Predators
Seasonal fluxes of food
Solar time cycle
Unpredictable Cues
Storms
Pollution
Disease
Loss of habitat
Change in food
Global changes
Social conditions
Corticosterone levels of a variety of transequatorial migrants following migration
across the Mediterranean Sea during spring migration.
Jenni et al, 2000
Behavioral responses to the unpredictable - Facultative movements - Partial migrants
Within a wintering flock some members will remain on or nearby the breeding
grounds while others will migrate away depending upon local environmental
conditions. This is also considered an evolutionary stable strategy (ESS).
Schwabl et al 1985
Map of Europe
Breeding range of
European Blackbird
Adults remain
On breeding range
Wintering range
(Schwabl et al., 1985)
Male European Blackbird
Female European Blackbird
15
Adult
First year
10
5
Corticosterone, ng/ml
Corticosterone, ng/ml
15
Adult
First year
10
5
0
0
SEVERE
MILD
Weather conditions
SEVERE
MILD
Weather conditions
Geographical range of European Blackbird, Turdus merula
Residents
Partial migrants
(Partecke et al., 2007)
Red crossbill: a facultative migrant
Irregular movements of flocks that coincide with availability of cone crops
Red Crossbill (Loxia curviostra)
Douglas fir cone
Pseudotsuga Menziesii
Annual reproductive schedules of red crossbills
(Hahn et al., 2008)
Suggestions of how Red crossbills react to food shortages
(Cornelius et al., Proc. R. Soc., 2010)
Public information and movement in red crossbills
(Cornelius et al., Proc. R. Soc., 2010)
Key Points
1. Migrants respond to both predictable and unpredictable environmental cues but the
physiological mechanisms differ
2. Predictable cues influence the speed of progression through the life history stage
whereas, unpredictable cues induce an alternative - Emergency life history stage
The physiological mechanisms of this have been aligned with the Allostatic load models
Outline
1. Introduction –
kinds of movement
evolutionary theory and migration
2. Concept of annual routines (life cycles) and phenotypic flexibility
3. Life history stages and how environmental conditions influence
their progression
4. Classification of environmental cues: predictable, unpredictable
5. Genetic basis for migratory traits
6. Conclusions
(Berthold and Pulido, 1994)
Be
Morphological changes in phenotype with range expansion of a long-distance migrant:
Assortative mating promotes microevolution of a migratory population
(Gunnarsson et al 2012)