1. Timing of spring departure of long distance migrants correlates with previous year's conditions at their breeding site
- Author
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Jaanus Elts, Nicolas Delbart, Pierre Rousseau, Riho Marja, Philippe Delaporte, Françoise Duraffour, Stefan Garthe, Pierrick Bocher, Françoise Amélineau, Jérôme Fort, Philipp Schwemmer, LIttoral ENvironnement et Sociétés - UMRi 7266 (LIENSs), Université de La Rochelle (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire des Energies de Demain (LIED (UMR_8236)), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Paris (UP), Pôle de recherche pour l'organisation et la diffusion de l'information géographique (PRODIG (UMR_8586 / UMR_D_215 / UM_115)), Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (UP1)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-AgroParisTech-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Paris (UP), Kiel University, University of Tartu, Réserve Naturelle Nationale de Moëze-Oléron, Réserves Naturelles de France, LIttoral ENvironnement et Sociétés (LIENSs), La Rochelle Université (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paris Cité (UPCité), and Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (UP1)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-AgroParisTech-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paris Cité (UPCité)
- Subjects
0106 biological sciences ,geography ,Eurasian curlew ,geography.geographical_feature_category ,010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences ,biology ,Ecology ,Phenology ,Climate Change ,Movement ,[SDV.BA]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Animal biology ,biology.organism_classification ,Annual cycle ,010603 evolutionary biology ,01 natural sciences ,Agricultural and Biological Sciences (miscellaneous) ,13. Climate action ,[SDE]Environmental Sciences ,Spring (hydrology) ,Animals ,Animal Behaviour ,Animal Migration ,Seasons ,General Agricultural and Biological Sciences ,0105 earth and related environmental sciences - Abstract
Precise timing of migration is crucial for animals targeting seasonal resources at locations encountered across their annual cycle. Upon departure, long-distance migrants need to anticipate unknown environmental conditions at their arrival site, and they do so with their internal annual clock. Here, we tested the hypothesis that long-distance migrants synchronize their circannual clock according to the phenology of their environment during the breeding season and therefore adjust their spring departure date according to the conditions encountered at their breeding site the year before. To this end, we used tracking data of Eurasian curlews from different locations and combined movement data with satellite-extracted green-up dates at their breeding site. The spring departure date was better explained by green-up date of the previous year, while arrival date at the breeding site was better explained by latitude and longitude of the breeding site, suggesting that other factors impacted migration timing en route . On a broader temporal scale, our results suggest that long-distance migrants may be able to adjust their migration timing to advancing spring dates in the context of climate change.
- Published
- 2021
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