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Goto Y, Weimerskirch H, Fukaya K, Yoda K, Naruoka M, Sato K. Albatrosses employ orientation and routing strategies similar to yacht racers. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2024; 121:e2312851121. [PMID: 38771864 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2312851121] [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: 08/15/2023] [Accepted: 03/15/2024] [Indexed: 05/23/2024] Open
Abstract
The way goal-oriented birds adjust their travel direction and route in response to wind significantly affects their travel costs. This is expected to be particularly pronounced in pelagic seabirds, which utilize a wind-dependent flight style called dynamic soaring. Dynamic soaring seabirds in situations without a definite goal, e.g. searching for prey, are known to preferentially fly with crosswinds or quartering-tailwinds to increase the speed and search area, and reduce travel costs. However, little is known about their reaction to wind when heading to a definite goal, such as homing. Homing tracks of wandering albatrosses (Diomedea exulans) vary from beelines to zigzags, which are similar to those of sailboats. Here, given that both albatrosses and sailboats travel slower in headwinds and tailwinds, we tested whether the time-minimizing strategies used by yacht racers can be compared to the locomotion patterns of wandering albatrosses. We predicted that when the goal is located upwind or downwind, albatrosses should deviate their travel directions from the goal on the mesoscale and increase the number of turns on the macroscale. Both hypotheses were supported by track data from albatrosses and racing yachts in the Southern Ocean confirming that albatrosses qualitatively employ the same strategy as yacht racers. Nevertheless, albatrosses did not strictly minimize their travel time, likely making their flight robust against wind fluctuations to reduce flight costs. Our study provides empirical evidence of tacking in albatrosses and demonstrates that man-made movement strategies provide a new perspective on the laws underlying wildlife movement.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yusuke Goto
- Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Nagoya University, Furo, Chikusa, Nagoya 464-8601, Japan
| | - Henri Weimerskirch
- Centre d'Etudes Biologiques Chizé (CEBC), UMR 7372 CNRS-Université de la Rochelle, Villiers En Bois 79360, France
| | - Keiichi Fukaya
- National Institute for Environmental Studies, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8506, Japan
| | - Ken Yoda
- Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Nagoya University, Furo, Chikusa, Nagoya 464-8601, Japan
| | - Masaru Naruoka
- Aeronautical Technology Directorate, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Mitaka, Tokyo 181-0015, Japan
| | - Katsufumi Sato
- Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, The University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Chiba 277-8564, Japan
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Mahr K, Nowack L, Knauer F, Hoi H. Songbirds use scent cues to relocate to feeding sites after displacement: An experiment in great tits (Parus major). Front Ecol Evol 2022. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2022.858981] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Air-borne chemicals are highly abundant sensory cues and their use in navigation might be one of the major evolutionary mechanisms explaining the development of olfaction in animals. Despite solid evidence for the importance of olfaction in avian life (e.g., foraging or mating), the importance of chemical cues in avian orientation remains controversial. In particular, songbirds are sorely neglected models, despite their remarkable orientation skills. Here we show that great tits (Parus major) require olfactory cues to orientate toward winter-feeding sites within their home range after displacement. Birds that received an olfaction-depriving treatment were impaired in homing. However, the return rates between olfaction-deprived and control individuals did not differ. Birds with decreased perception of olfactory cues required more time to return to the winter feeding sites. This effect became apparent when the distance between the releasing and capture sites was greater. Our results indicate that even in a familiar environment with possible visual landmarks, scent cues might serve as an important source of information for orientation.
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Patrick SC, Assink JD, Basille M, Clusella-Trullas S, Clay TA, den Ouden OFC, Joo R, Zeyl JN, Benhamou S, Christensen-Dalsgaard J, Evers LG, Fayet AL, Köppl C, Malkemper EP, Martín López LM, Padget O, Phillips RA, Prior MK, Smets PSM, van Loon EE. Infrasound as a Cue for Seabird Navigation. Front Ecol Evol 2021. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2021.740027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Seabirds are amongst the most mobile of all animal species and spend large amounts of their lives at sea. They cross vast areas of ocean that appear superficially featureless, and our understanding of the mechanisms that they use for navigation remains incomplete, especially in terms of available cues. In particular, several large-scale navigational tasks, such as homing across thousands of kilometers to breeding sites, are not fully explained by visual, olfactory or magnetic stimuli. Low-frequency inaudible sound, i.e., infrasound, is ubiquitous in the marine environment. The spatio-temporal consistency of some components of the infrasonic wavefield, and the sensitivity of certain bird species to infrasonic stimuli, suggests that infrasound may provide additional cues for seabirds to navigate, but this remains untested. Here, we propose a framework to explore the importance of infrasound for navigation. We present key concepts regarding the physics of infrasound and review the physiological mechanisms through which infrasound may be detected and used. Next, we propose three hypotheses detailing how seabirds could use information provided by different infrasound sources for navigation as an acoustic beacon, landmark, or gradient. Finally, we reflect on strengths and limitations of our proposed hypotheses, and discuss several directions for future work. In particular, we suggest that hypotheses may be best tested by combining conceptual models of navigation with empirical data on seabird movements and in-situ infrasound measurements.
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Packmor F, Kishkinev D, Bittermann F, Kofler B, Machowetz C, Zechmeister T, Zawadzki LC, Guilford T, Holland RA. A magnet attached to the forehead disrupts magnetic compass orientation in a migratory songbird. J Exp Biol 2021; 224:jeb243337. [PMID: 34713887 PMCID: PMC8645232 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.243337] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/17/2021] [Accepted: 10/25/2021] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
For studies on magnetic compass orientation and navigation performance in small bird species, controlled experiments with orientation cages inside an electromagnetic coil system are the most prominent methodological paradigm. These are, however, not applicable when studying larger bird species and/or orientation behaviour during free flight. For this, researchers have followed a very different approach, attaching small magnets to birds, with the intention of depriving them of access to meaningful magnetic information. Unfortunately, results from studies using this approach appear rather inconsistent. As these are based on experiments with birds under free-flight conditions, which usually do not allow exclusion of other potential orientation cues, an assessment of the overall efficacy of this approach is difficult to conduct. Here, we directly tested the efficacy of small magnets for temporarily disrupting magnetic compass orientation in small migratory songbirds using orientation cages under controlled experimental conditions. We found that birds which have access to the Earth's magnetic field as their sole orientation cue show a general orientation towards their seasonally appropriate migratory direction. When carrying magnets on their forehead under these conditions, the same birds become disoriented. However, under changed conditions that allow birds access to other (i.e. celestial) orientation cues, any disruptive effect of the magnets they carry appears obscured. Our results provide clear evidence for the efficacy of the magnet approach for temporarily disrupting magnetic compass orientation in birds, but also reveal its limitations for application in experiments under free-flight conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Florian Packmor
- School of Natural Sciences, Bangor University, Bangor LL57 2UW, UK
- Institute of Avian Research ‘Vogelwarte Helgoland’, Wilhelmshaven 26386, Germany
| | - Dmitry Kishkinev
- School of Life Sciences, Keele University, Newcastle-under-Lyme ST5 5BG, UK
| | - Flora Bittermann
- Biological Station Lake Neusiedl, Illmitz 7142, Austria
- Nationalpark Neusiedler See – Seewinkel, Apetlon 7143, Austria
- Austrian Ornithological Centre, Konrad-Lorenz Institute of Ethology, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, 1160 Wien, Austria
| | | | - Clara Machowetz
- Biological Station Lake Neusiedl, Illmitz 7142, Austria
- Nationalpark Neusiedler See – Seewinkel, Apetlon 7143, Austria
- Austrian Ornithological Centre, Konrad-Lorenz Institute of Ethology, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, 1160 Wien, Austria
| | | | | | - Tim Guilford
- Department of Zoology, Oxford University, Oxford OX1 3SZ, UK
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Bonadonna F, Gagliardo A. Not only pigeons: avian olfactory navigation studied by satellite telemetry. ETHOL ECOL EVOL 2021. [DOI: 10.1080/03949370.2021.1871967] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Francesco Bonadonna
- CEFE-CNRS, University of Montpellier, EPHE, IRD, University Paul Valéry Montpellier 3, Montpellier, France
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Nimpf S, Nordmann GC, Kagerbauer D, Malkemper EP, Landler L, Papadaki-Anastasopoulou A, Ushakova L, Wenninger-Weinzierl A, Novatchkova M, Vincent P, Lendl T, Colombini M, Mason MJ, Keays DA. A Putative Mechanism for Magnetoreception by Electromagnetic Induction in the Pigeon Inner Ear. Curr Biol 2019; 29:4052-4059.e4. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2019.09.048] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/26/2019] [Revised: 08/28/2019] [Accepted: 09/19/2019] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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Li H, Liu M, Liu K, Zhang F. A Study on the Model of Detecting the Variation of Geomagnetic Intensity Based on an Adapted Motion Strategy. SENSORS (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2017; 18:E39. [PMID: 29295588 PMCID: PMC5795385 DOI: 10.3390/s18010039] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2017] [Revised: 12/20/2017] [Accepted: 12/21/2017] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
By simulating the geomagnetic fields and analyzing thevariation of intensities, this paper presents a model for calculating the objective function ofan Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV)geomagnetic navigation task. By investigating the biologically inspired strategies, the AUV successfullyreachesthe destination duringgeomagnetic navigation without using the priori geomagnetic map. Similar to the pattern of a flatworm, the proposed algorithm relies on a motion pattern to trigger a local searching strategy by detecting the real-time geomagnetic intensity. An adapted strategy is then implemented, which is biased on the specific target. The results show thereliabilityandeffectivenessofthe proposed algorithm.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hong Li
- College of Marine Science and Technology, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an 710072, China.
| | - Mingyong Liu
- College of Marine Science and Technology, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an 710072, China.
| | - Kun Liu
- College of Marine Science and Technology, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an 710072, China.
| | - Feihu Zhang
- College of Marine Science and Technology, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an 710072, China.
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Padget O, Dell'Ariccia G, Gagliardo A, González-Solís J, Guilford T. Anosmia impairs homing orientation but not foraging behaviour in free-ranging shearwaters. Sci Rep 2017; 7:9668. [PMID: 28851985 PMCID: PMC5575321 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-09738-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2017] [Accepted: 07/27/2017] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Shearwaters deprived of their olfactory sense before being displaced to distant sites have impaired homing ability but it is unknown what the role of olfaction is when birds navigate freely without their sense of smell. Furthermore, treatments used to induce anosmia and to disrupt magneto-reception in displacement experiments might influence non-specific factors not directly related to navigation and, as a consequence, the results of displacement experiments can have multiple interpretations. To address this, we GPS-tracked the free-ranging foraging trips of incubating Scopoli's shearwaters within the Mediterranean Sea. As in previous experiments, shearwaters were either made anosmic with 4% zinc sulphate solution, magnetically impaired by attachment of a strong neodymium magnet or were controls. We found that birds from all three treatments embarked on foraging trips, had indistinguishable at-sea schedules of behaviour and returned to the colony having gained mass. However, we found that in the pelagic return stage of their foraging trips, anosmic birds were not oriented towards the colony though coastal navigation was unaffected. These results support the case for zinc sulphate having a specific effect on the navigational ability of shearwaters and thus the view that seabirds consult an olfactory map to guide them across seascapes.
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Affiliation(s)
- O Padget
- Oxford Navigation Group, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3PS, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom.
| | - G Dell'Ariccia
- Biodiversity Research Institute (IRBio) & Department of Animal Biology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - A Gagliardo
- Department of Biology, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
| | - J González-Solís
- Biodiversity Research Institute (IRBio) & Department of Animal Biology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - T Guilford
- Oxford Navigation Group, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3PS, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom.
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Meskenaite V, Krackow S, Lipp HP. Age-Dependent Neurogenesis and Neuron Numbers within the Olfactory Bulb and Hippocampus of Homing Pigeons. Front Behav Neurosci 2016; 10:126. [PMID: 27445724 PMCID: PMC4916210 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2016.00126] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/17/2016] [Accepted: 06/06/2016] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Many birds are supreme long-distance navigators that develop their navigational ability in the first months after fledgling but update the memorized environmental information needed for navigation also later in life. We studied the extent of juvenile and adult neurogenesis that could provide such age-related plasticity in brain regions known to mediate different mechanisms of pigeon homing: the olfactory bulb (OB), and the triangular area of the hippocampal formation (HP tr). Newly generated neurons (visualized by doublecortin, DCX) and mature neurons were counted stereologically in 35 pigeon brains ranging from 1 to 168 months of age. At the age of 1 month, both areas showed maximal proportions of DCX positive neurons, which rapidly declined during the first year of life. In the OB, the number of DCX-positive periglomerular neurons declined further over time, but the number of mature periglomerular cells appeared unchanged. In the hippocampus, the proportion of DCX-positive neurons showed a similar decline yet to a lesser extent. Remarkably, in the triangular area of the hippocampus, the oldest birds showed nearly twice the number of neurons as compared to young adult pigeons, suggesting that adult born neurons in these regions expanded the local circuitry even in aged birds. This increase might reflect navigational experience and, possibly, expanded spatial memory. On the other hand, the decrease of juvenile neurons in the aging OB without adding new circuitry might be related to the improved attachment to the loft characterizing adult and old pigeons.
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Affiliation(s)
- Virginia Meskenaite
- Institute of Anatomy, University of ZurichZurich, Switzerland; The Interface Group, Institute of Physiology, University of ZurichZurich, Switzerland
| | - Sven Krackow
- Institute of Anatomy, University of Zurich Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Hans-Peter Lipp
- Institute of Anatomy, University of ZurichZurich, Switzerland; Department of Physiology, School of Medical Sciences, Kwazulu-Natal UniversityDurban, South Africa; Institute of Evolutionary Medicine, University of ZurichZurich, Switzerland
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Orchan Y, Ovaskainen O, Bouten W, Nathan R. Novel Insights into the Map Stage of True Navigation in Nonmigratory Wild Birds (Stone Curlews, Burhinus oedicnemus). Am Nat 2016; 187:E152-65. [PMID: 27172601 DOI: 10.1086/686054] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Abstract
In the map-and-compass model of true navigation, animals at unfamiliar sites determine their position relative to a destination site (the map stage) before progressing toward it (the compass stage). A major challenge in animal navigation research is to understand the still cryptic map stage in general and the map stage for free-ranging wild animals in particular. To address this challenge, we experimentally translocated wild, nonmigratory birds (stone curlews [Burhinus oedicnemus]) far from their nests and GPS-tracked their subsequent movements at high resolution and for long durations. Homing success was high and cannot be explained by random chance or landmark navigation, implying true navigation. Although highly motivated to return home, the homing trajectories of translocated birds exhibited a distinct, two-phase pattern resembling the map and compass stages: a long, tortuous wandering phase without consistent approach home, followed by a short and direct return phase. Birds retranslocated to the same site initially repeated the original wandering path but switched to the return phase earlier and after covering a smaller area; they returned home via a different path but with similar movement properties. We thus propose the map learning hypothesis, asserting that birds resolve the map by acquiring, potentially through learning, the relevant navigation cues during the wandering phase.
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Reynolds AM, Cecere JG, Paiva VH, Ramos JA, Focardi S. Pelagic seabird flight patterns are consistent with a reliance on olfactory maps for oceanic navigation. Proc Biol Sci 2016; 282:rspb.2015.0468. [PMID: 26136443 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2015.0468] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Homing studies have provided tantalizing evidence that the remarkable ability of shearwaters (Procellariiformes) to pinpoint their breeding colony after crossing vast expanses of featureless open ocean can be attributed to their assembling cognitive maps of wind-borne odours but crucially, it has not been tested whether olfactory cues are actually used as a system for navigation. Obtaining statistically important samples of wild birds for use in experimental approaches is, however, impossible because of invasive sensory manipulation. Using an innovative non-invasive approach, we provide strong evidence that shearwaters rely on olfactory cues for oceanic navigation. We tested for compliance with olfactory-cued navigation in the flight patterns of 210 shearwaters of three species (Cory's shearwaters, Calonectris borealis, North Atlantic Ocean, Scopoli's shearwaters, C. diomedea Mediterranean Sea, and Cape Verde shearwaters, C. edwardsii, Central Atlantic Ocean) tagged with high-resolution GPS loggers during both incubation and chick rearing.We found that most (69%) birds displayed exponentially truncated scale-free(Lévy-flight like) displacements, which we show are consistent with olfactory-cued navigation in the presence of atmospheric turbulence. Our analysis provides the strongest evidence yet for cognitive odour map navigation in wild birds. Thus, we may reconcile two highly disputed questions in movement ecology, by mechanistically connecting Lévy displacements and olfactory navigation. Our approach can be applied to any species which can be tracked at sufficient spatial resolution, using a GPS logger.
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Wikelski M, Arriero E, Gagliardo A, Holland RA, Huttunen MJ, Juvaste R, Mueller I, Tertitski G, Thorup K, Wild M, Alanko M, Bairlein F, Cherenkov A, Cameron A, Flatz R, Hannila J, Hüppop O, Kangasniemi M, Kranstauber B, Penttinen ML, Safi K, Semashko V, Schmid H, Wistbacka R. True navigation in migrating gulls requires intact olfactory nerves. Sci Rep 2015; 5:17061. [PMID: 26597351 DOI: 10.5441/001/1.q986rc29] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2015] [Accepted: 10/21/2015] [Indexed: 05/26/2023] Open
Abstract
During migratory journeys, birds may become displaced from their normal migratory route. Experimental evidence has shown that adult birds can correct for such displacements and return to their goal. However, the nature of the cues used by migratory birds to perform long distance navigation is still debated. In this experiment we subjected adult lesser black-backed gulls migrating from their Finnish/Russian breeding grounds (from >60°N) to Africa (to < 5°N) to sensory manipulation, to determine the sensory systems required for navigation. We translocated birds westward (1080 km) or eastward (885 km) to simulate natural navigational challenges. When translocated westwards and outside their migratory corridor birds with olfactory nerve section kept a clear directional preference (southerly) but were unable to compensate for the displacement, while intact birds and gulls with the ophthalmic branch of the trigeminal nerve sectioned oriented towards their population-specific migratory corridor. Thus, air-borne olfactory information seems to be important for migrating gulls to navigate successfully in some circumstances.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martin Wikelski
- Department of Migration and ImmunoEcology, Max-Planck Institute of Ornithology, Am Obstberg 1, 78315 Radolfzell, Germany
- Ornithology, Konstanz University, 78457 Konstanz, Germany
| | - Elena Arriero
- Department of Migration and ImmunoEcology, Max-Planck Institute of Ornithology, Am Obstberg 1, 78315 Radolfzell, Germany
| | - Anna Gagliardo
- Department of Biology, Via Volta 6, Pisa University, 56126 Pisa, Italy
| | - Richard A Holland
- Department of Migration and ImmunoEcology, Max-Planck Institute of Ornithology, Am Obstberg 1, 78315 Radolfzell, Germany
| | - Markku J Huttunen
- School of Forest Sciences, Faculty of Science and Forestry, University of Eastern Finland, Joensuu campus, P.O. Box 111, FI-80101 Joensuu, Finland
| | - Risto Juvaste
- Karelia University of Applied Sciences, Joensuu, Finland
| | - Inge Mueller
- Department of Migration and ImmunoEcology, Max-Planck Institute of Ornithology, Am Obstberg 1, 78315 Radolfzell, Germany
| | - Grigori Tertitski
- Institute of Geography, Russian Academy of Sciences, Staromonetnystr. 29, Moscow, 119017, Russia
| | - Kasper Thorup
- Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen 2100, Denmark
| | - Martin Wild
- Department of Anatomy with Radiology, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, University of Auckland. Auckland, New Zealand
| | | | - Franz Bairlein
- Institute of Avian Research, An der Vogelwarte 21, 26386 Wilhelmshaven, Germany
| | - Alexander Cherenkov
- Solovetskiy Branch of White Sea Biological Station of Lomonosov Moscow State University, Zaozernaya str. 17-1-6, Solovetskiy, Arkhangelsk district, 164409, Russia
| | - Alison Cameron
- Department of Migration and ImmunoEcology, Max-Planck Institute of Ornithology, Am Obstberg 1, 78315 Radolfzell, Germany
| | | | | | - Ommo Hüppop
- Institute of Avian Research, An der Vogelwarte 21, 26386 Wilhelmshaven, Germany
| | | | - Bart Kranstauber
- Department of Migration and ImmunoEcology, Max-Planck Institute of Ornithology, Am Obstberg 1, 78315 Radolfzell, Germany
| | | | - Kamran Safi
- Department of Migration and ImmunoEcology, Max-Planck Institute of Ornithology, Am Obstberg 1, 78315 Radolfzell, Germany
| | - Vladimir Semashko
- Field Educational Centre "Ecosystem", Festivalnaya st., 22-8-111, Moscow, Russia
| | - Heidi Schmid
- Department of Migration and ImmunoEcology, Max-Planck Institute of Ornithology, Am Obstberg 1, 78315 Radolfzell, Germany
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Wikelski M, Arriero E, Gagliardo A, Holland RA, Huttunen MJ, Juvaste R, Mueller I, Tertitski G, Thorup K, Wild M, Alanko M, Bairlein F, Cherenkov A, Cameron A, Flatz R, Hannila J, Hüppop O, Kangasniemi M, Kranstauber B, Penttinen ML, Safi K, Semashko V, Schmid H, Wistbacka R. True navigation in migrating gulls requires intact olfactory nerves. Sci Rep 2015; 5:17061. [PMID: 26597351 PMCID: PMC4657012 DOI: 10.1038/srep17061] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2015] [Accepted: 10/21/2015] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
During migratory journeys, birds may become displaced from their normal migratory route. Experimental evidence has shown that adult birds can correct for such displacements and return to their goal. However, the nature of the cues used by migratory birds to perform long distance navigation is still debated. In this experiment we subjected adult lesser black-backed gulls migrating from their Finnish/Russian breeding grounds (from >60°N) to Africa (to < 5°N) to sensory manipulation, to determine the sensory systems required for navigation. We translocated birds westward (1080 km) or eastward (885 km) to simulate natural navigational challenges. When translocated westwards and outside their migratory corridor birds with olfactory nerve section kept a clear directional preference (southerly) but were unable to compensate for the displacement, while intact birds and gulls with the ophthalmic branch of the trigeminal nerve sectioned oriented towards their population-specific migratory corridor. Thus, air-borne olfactory information seems to be important for migrating gulls to navigate successfully in some circumstances.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martin Wikelski
- Department of Migration and ImmunoEcology, Max-Planck Institute of Ornithology, Am Obstberg 1, 78315 Radolfzell, Germany
- Ornithology, Konstanz University, 78457 Konstanz, Germany
| | - Elena Arriero
- Department of Migration and ImmunoEcology, Max-Planck Institute of Ornithology, Am Obstberg 1, 78315 Radolfzell, Germany
| | - Anna Gagliardo
- Department of Biology, Via Volta 6, Pisa University, 56126 Pisa, Italy
| | - Richard A. Holland
- Department of Migration and ImmunoEcology, Max-Planck Institute of Ornithology, Am Obstberg 1, 78315 Radolfzell, Germany
| | - Markku J. Huttunen
- School of Forest Sciences, Faculty of Science and Forestry, University of Eastern Finland, Joensuu campus, P.O. Box 111, FI-80101 Joensuu, Finland
| | - Risto Juvaste
- Karelia University of Applied Sciences, Joensuu, Finland
| | - Inge Mueller
- Department of Migration and ImmunoEcology, Max-Planck Institute of Ornithology, Am Obstberg 1, 78315 Radolfzell, Germany
| | - Grigori Tertitski
- Institute of Geography, Russian Academy of Sciences, Staromonetnystr. 29, Moscow, 119017, Russia
| | - Kasper Thorup
- Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen 2100, Denmark
| | - Martin Wild
- Department of Anatomy with Radiology, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, University of Auckland. Auckland, New Zealand
| | | | - Franz Bairlein
- Institute of Avian Research, An der Vogelwarte 21, 26386 Wilhelmshaven, Germany
| | - Alexander Cherenkov
- Solovetskiy Branch of White Sea Biological Station of Lomonosov Moscow State University, Zaozernaya str. 17-1-6, Solovetskiy, Arkhangelsk district, 164409, Russia
| | - Alison Cameron
- Department of Migration and ImmunoEcology, Max-Planck Institute of Ornithology, Am Obstberg 1, 78315 Radolfzell, Germany
| | - Reinhard Flatz
- Airport Hohenems, Bahnhofstr. 35, 6923 Lauterach, Austria
| | | | - Ommo Hüppop
- Institute of Avian Research, An der Vogelwarte 21, 26386 Wilhelmshaven, Germany
| | | | - Bart Kranstauber
- Department of Migration and ImmunoEcology, Max-Planck Institute of Ornithology, Am Obstberg 1, 78315 Radolfzell, Germany
| | - Maija-Liisa Penttinen
- Karelia University of Applied Sciences, Joensuu, Finland
- Västäräkintie 7, 80130 Joensuu, Finland
| | - Kamran Safi
- Department of Migration and ImmunoEcology, Max-Planck Institute of Ornithology, Am Obstberg 1, 78315 Radolfzell, Germany
| | - Vladimir Semashko
- Field Educational Centre “Ecosystem”, Festivalnaya st., 22-8-111, Moscow, Russia
| | - Heidi Schmid
- Department of Migration and ImmunoEcology, Max-Planck Institute of Ornithology, Am Obstberg 1, 78315 Radolfzell, Germany
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Pollonara E, Luschi P, Guilford T, Wikelski M, Bonadonna F, Gagliardo A. Olfaction and topography, but not magnetic cues, control navigation in a pelagic seabird: displacements with shearwaters in the Mediterranean Sea. Sci Rep 2015; 5:16486. [PMID: 26548946 PMCID: PMC4637929 DOI: 10.1038/srep16486] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/02/2015] [Accepted: 10/14/2015] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
Pelagic seabirds wander the open oceans then return accurately to their habitual nest-sites. We investigated the effects of sensory manipulation on oceanic navigation in Scopoli’s shearwaters (Calonectris diomedea) breeding at Pianosa island (Italy), by displacing them 400 km from their colony and tracking them. A recent experiment on Atlantic shearwaters (Cory’s shearwater, Calonectris borealis) breeding in the Azores indicated a crucial role of olfaction over the open ocean, but left open the question of whether birds might navigate by topographical landmark cues when available. Our experiment was conducted in the Mediterranean sea, where the availability of topographical cues may provide an alternative navigational mechanism for homing. Magnetically disturbed shearwaters and control birds oriented homeward even when the coast was not visible and rapidly homed. Anosmic shearwaters oriented in a direction significantly different from the home direction when in open sea. After having approached a coastline their flight path changed from convoluted to homeward oriented, so that most of them eventually reached home. Beside confirming that magnetic cues appear unimportant for oceanic navigation by seabirds, our results support the crucial role of olfactory cues for birds’ navigation and reveal that anosmic shearwaters are able to home eventually by following coastal features.
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Affiliation(s)
- Enrica Pollonara
- Department of Biology, University of Pisa, Via Volta 6, 56126 Pisa, Italy
| | - Paolo Luschi
- Department of Biology, University of Pisa, Via Volta 6, 56126 Pisa, Italy
| | - Tim Guilford
- Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford, UK
| | - Martin Wikelski
- Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Department of Migration and Immuno-ecology, Schlossallee 2, Radolfzell 78315, Germany.,Dept. of Biology, University of Konstanz, 78468 Konstanz, Germany
| | | | - Anna Gagliardo
- Department of Biology, University of Pisa, Via Volta 6, 56126 Pisa, Italy
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15
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Blaser N, Guskov SI, Entin VA, Wolfer DP, Kanevskyi VA, Lipp HP. Gravity anomalies without geomagnetic disturbances interfere with pigeon homing--a GPS tracking study. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2015; 217:4057-67. [PMID: 25392461 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.108670] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
The gravity vector theory postulates that birds determine their position to set a home course by comparing the memorized gravity vector at the home loft with the local gravity vector at the release site, and that they should adjust their flight course to the gravity anomalies encountered. As gravity anomalies are often intermingled with geomagnetic anomalies, we released experienced pigeons from the center of a strong circular gravity anomaly (25 km diameter) not associated with magnetic anomalies and from a geophysical control site, equidistant from the home loft (91 km). After crossing the border zone of the anomaly--expected to be most critical for pigeon navigation--they dispersed significantly more than control birds, except for those having met a gravity anomaly en route. These data increase the credibility of the gravity vector hypothesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicole Blaser
- Institute of Anatomy, University of Zurich, 8053 Zurich, Switzerland Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, D-78315 Radolfzell, Germany
| | | | | | - David P Wolfer
- Institute of Anatomy, University of Zurich, 8053 Zurich, Switzerland
| | | | - Hans-Peter Lipp
- Institute of Anatomy, University of Zurich, 8053 Zurich, Switzerland Department of Physiology, School of Laboratory Medicine and Medical Sciences, KwaZulu-Natal University, Durban 4000, South Africa
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16
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Sandhopper orientation under natural conditions: comparing individual tracks. Behav Processes 2015; 113:13-23. [PMID: 25555747 DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2014.12.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2014] [Revised: 12/02/2014] [Accepted: 12/26/2014] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
The analysis of animal movements may help to understand orientation strategies. While there have been many studies on sandhoppers' orientation mechanisms through the analysis of their orientation angles, no attempts have been made to analyze individual tracks under (varying) natural conditions. The species Talitrus saltator (Montagu, 1808) has the ability to recover the optimal zone of the beach at or below the drift-line and burrow into moist sand when released in the upper beach during the day. On dry sand sandhoppers typically jump and leave tracks; we measured the tracks in relation to the starting point. For each track we calculated: the mean angle of direction, distance covered from the starting point, number of jumps, number of effective turnings, rectilinearity and efficiency (how well the track was directed to the goal). We proposed a classification of the tracks based on both rectilinearity and efficiency. Freshly collected adult individuals from the population of San Rossore beach (Pisa, Italy) were compared to laboratory-born ones so as to highlight eventual differences related to experience. Most of the wild individuals made tracks with high rectilinearity and efficiency. This good orientation suggests that these individuals had developed experience of their beach rapidly recovering the optimal zone. Laboratory-born individuals showed a higher scatter in orientation and winding tracks. The factors that influenced the individuals during their movements could also be inferred by the track course. In addition to the sun azimuth (sun compass), wind direction appeared to be a major factor influencing orientation. The individuals released with onshore winds were more efficiently oriented seawards than those released with winds from other directions.
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17
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Putman NF, Jenkins ES, Michielsens CGJ, Noakes DLG. Geomagnetic imprinting predicts spatio-temporal variation in homing migration of pink and sockeye salmon. J R Soc Interface 2014; 11:20140542. [PMID: 25056214 PMCID: PMC4233730 DOI: 10.1098/rsif.2014.0542] [Citation(s) in RCA: 60] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/22/2014] [Accepted: 06/27/2014] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Animals navigate using a variety of sensory cues, but how each is weighted during different phases of movement (e.g. dispersal, foraging, homing) is controversial. Here, we examine the geomagnetic and olfactory imprinting hypotheses of natal homing with datasets that recorded variation in the migratory routes of sockeye (Oncorhynchus nerka) and pink (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) salmon returning from the Pacific Ocean to the Fraser River, British Columbia. Drift of the magnetic field (i.e. geomagnetic imprinting) uniquely accounted for 23.2% and 44.0% of the variation in migration routes for sockeye and pink salmon, respectively. Ocean circulation (i.e. olfactory imprinting) predicted 6.1% and 0.1% of the variation in sockeye and pink migration routes, respectively. Sea surface temperature (a variable influencing salmon distribution but not navigation, directly) accounted for 13.0% of the variation in sockeye migration but was unrelated to pink migration. These findings suggest that geomagnetic navigation plays an important role in long-distance homing in salmon and that consideration of navigation mechanisms can aid in the management of migratory fishes by better predicting movement patterns. Finally, given the diversity of animals that use the Earth's magnetic field for navigation, geomagnetic drift may provide a unifying explanation for spatio-temporal variation in the movement patterns of many species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nathan F Putman
- Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Oregon State University, 104 Nash Hall, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA
| | - Erica S Jenkins
- Pacific Salmon Commission, 600-1155 Robson Street, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada V6E IB5
| | | | - David L G Noakes
- Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Oregon State University, 104 Nash Hall, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA Oregon Hatchery Research Center, 2418 East Fall Creek Road, Alsea, OR 97324, USA
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Phillips JB, Jorge PE. Olfactory navigation: failure to attempt replication of critical experiments keeps controversy alive. Reply to Wallraff. Anim Behav 2014. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2014.01.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
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Affiliation(s)
- R. A. Holland
- School of Biological Sciences; Queen's University of Belfast; Belfast UK
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20
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Blaser N, Dell'Omo G, Dell'Ariccia G, Wolfer DP, Lipp HP. Testing cognitive navigation in unknown territories: homing pigeons choose different targets. J Exp Biol 2013; 216:3123-31. [DOI: 10.1242/jeb.083246] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
SUMMARY
Homing pigeons (Columba livia) are believed to adopt a map-and-compass strategy to find their way home. Surprisingly, to date a clear demonstration of the use of a cognitive map in free-flight experiments is missing. In this study, we investigated whether homing pigeons use a mental map in which – at an unknown release site – their own position, the home loft and a food loft are represented simultaneously. In order to test this, homing pigeons were trained to fly to a 25–30 km distant food loft. A total of 131 hungry and satiated pigeons were then released from an unfamiliar site equidistant from the food loft and the home loft. Their vanishing bearings and homing times were assessed conventionally at four sites, and also their flight tracks from one release site by means of GPS loggers. The vanishing bearings of fed and hungry birds differed significantly at all release sites and a highly significant proportion of hungry birds flew to the food loft, while the fed birds headed home. The GPS experiment revealed a number of pigeons flying very precisely to the food loft, others correcting their flight direction after topography-induced detours. This implies that the pigeons knew their geographical position in relation to the targets, and chose a flight direction according to their locally manipulated needs – clearly the essence of a cognitive navigational map.
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Affiliation(s)
- N. Blaser
- Institute of Anatomy, University of Zurich, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland
| | | | | | - D. P. Wolfer
- Institute of Anatomy, University of Zurich, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland
- Institute of Human Movement Sciences, ETH Zurich, 8057 Zürich, Switzerland
| | - H.-P. Lipp
- Institute of Anatomy, University of Zurich, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland
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21
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Spice EK, Goodman DH, Reid SB, Docker MF. Neither philopatric nor panmictic: microsatellite and mtDNA evidence suggests lack of natal homing but limits to dispersal in Pacific lamprey. Mol Ecol 2012; 21:2916-30. [PMID: 22564149 DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-294x.2012.05585.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 69] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Most species with lengthy migrations display some degree of natal homing; some (e.g. migratory birds and anadromous salmonids) show spectacular feats of homing. However, studies of the sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) indicate that this anadromous species locates spawning habitat based on pheromonal cues from larvae rather than through philopatry. Previous genetic studies in the anadromous Pacific lamprey (Entosphenus tridentatus) have both supported and rejected the hypothesis of natal homing. To resolve this, we used nine microsatellite loci to examine the population structure in 965 Pacific lamprey from 20 locations from central British Columbia to southern California and supplemented this analysis with mitochondrial DNA restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis on a subset of 530 lamprey. Microsatellite analysis revealed (i) relatively low but often statistically significant genetic differentiation among locations (97% pairwise F(ST) values were <0.04 but 73.7% were significant); and (ii) weak but significant isolation by distance (r(2) = 0.0565, P = 0.0450) but no geographic clustering of samples. The few moderate F(ST) values involved comparisons with sites that were geographically distant or far upstream. The mtDNA analysis--although providing less resolution among sites (only 4.7%F(ST) values were significant)--was broadly consistent with the microsatellite results: (i) the southernmost site and some sites tributary to the Salish Sea were genetically distinct; and (ii) southern sites showed higher haplotype and private haplotype richness. These results are inconsistent with philopatry, suggesting that anadromous lampreys are unusual among species with long migrations, but suggest that limited dispersal at sea precludes panmixia in this species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erin K Spice
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3T 2N2, Canada
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22
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Wiltschko W, Wiltschko R. Global navigation in migratory birds: tracks, strategies, and interactions between mechanisms. Curr Opin Neurobiol 2012; 22:328-35. [DOI: 10.1016/j.conb.2011.12.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2011] [Revised: 12/22/2011] [Accepted: 12/22/2011] [Indexed: 10/14/2022]
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23
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Benhamou S, Sudre J, Bourjea J, Ciccione S, De Santis A, Luschi P. The role of geomagnetic cues in green turtle open sea navigation. PLoS One 2011; 6:e26672. [PMID: 22046329 PMCID: PMC3202557 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0026672] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2011] [Accepted: 09/30/2011] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Laboratory and field experiments have provided evidence that sea turtles use geomagnetic cues to navigate in the open sea. For instance, green turtles (Chelonia mydas) displaced 100 km away from their nesting site were impaired in returning home when carrying a strong magnet glued on the head. However, the actual role of geomagnetic cues remains unclear, since magnetically treated green turtles can perform large scale (>2000 km) post-nesting migrations no differently from controls. Methodology/Principal Findings In the present homing experiment, 24 green turtles were displaced 200 km away from their nesting site on an oceanic island, and tracked, for the first time in this type of experiment, with Global Positioning System (GPS), which is able to provide much more frequent and accurate locations than previously used tracking methods. Eight turtles were magnetically treated for 24–48 h on the nesting beach prior to displacement, and another eight turtles had a magnet glued on the head at the release site. The last eight turtles were used as controls. Detailed analyses of water masses-related (i.e., current-corrected) homing paths showed that magnetically treated turtles were able to navigate toward their nesting site as efficiently as controls, but those carrying magnets were significantly impaired once they arrived within 50 km of home. Conclusions/Significance While green turtles do not seem to need geomagnetic cues to navigate far from the goal, these cues become necessary when turtles get closer to home. As the very last part of the homing trip (within a few kilometers of home) likely depends on non-magnetic cues, our results suggest that magnetic cues play a key role in sea turtle navigation at an intermediate scale by bridging the gap between large and small scale navigational processes, which both appear to depend on non-magnetic cues.
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24
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Guilford T, Freeman R, Boyle D, Dean B, Kirk H, Phillips R, Perrins C. A dispersive migration in the Atlantic Puffin and its implications for migratory navigation. PLoS One 2011; 6:e21336. [PMID: 21799734 PMCID: PMC3140476 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0021336] [Citation(s) in RCA: 102] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2011] [Accepted: 05/25/2011] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Navigational control of avian migration is understood, largely from the study of terrestrial birds, to depend on either genetically or culturally inherited information. By tracking the individual migrations of Atlantic Puffins, Fratercula arctica, in successive years using geolocators, we describe migratory behaviour in a pelagic seabird that is apparently incompatible with this view. Puffins do not migrate to a single overwintering area, but follow a dispersive pattern of movements changing through the non-breeding period, showing great variability in travel distances and directions. Despite this within-population variability, individuals show remarkable consistency in their own migratory routes among years. This combination of complex population dispersion and individual route fidelity cannot easily be accounted for in terms of genetic inheritance of compass instructions, or cultural inheritance of traditional routes. We suggest that a mechanism of individual exploration and acquired navigational memory may provide the dominant control over Puffin migration, and potentially some other pelagic seabirds, despite the apparently featureless nature of the ocean.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tim Guilford
- Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom.
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25
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Thorup K, Holland RA. The bird GPS - long-range navigation in migrants. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2010; 212:3597-604. [PMID: 19880719 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.021238] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Nowadays few people consider finding their way in unfamiliar areas a problem as a GPS (Global Positioning System) combined with some simple map software can easily tell you how to get from A to B. Although this opportunity has only become available during the last decade, recent experiments show that long-distance migrating animals had already solved this problem. Even after displacement over thousands of kilometres to previously unknown areas, experienced but not first time migrant birds quickly adjust their course toward their destination, proving the existence of an experience-based GPS in these birds. Determining latitude is a relatively simple task, even for humans, whereas longitude poses much larger problems. Birds and other animals however have found a way to achieve this, although we do not yet know how. Possible ways of determining longitude includes using celestial cues in combination with an internal clock, geomagnetic cues such as magnetic intensity or perhaps even olfactory cues. Presently, there is not enough evidence to rule out any of these, and years of studying birds in a laboratory setting have yielded partly contradictory results. We suggest that a concerted effort, where the study of animals in a natural setting goes hand-in-hand with lab-based study, may be necessary to fully understand the mechanism underlying the long-distance navigation system of birds. As such, researchers must remain receptive to alternative interpretations and bear in mind that animal navigation may not necessarily be similar to the human system, and that we know from many years of investigation of long-distance navigation in birds that at least some birds do have a GPS - but we are uncertain how it works.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kasper Thorup
- Zoological Museum, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.
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26
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Nevitt GA. Sensory ecology on the high seas: the odor world of the procellariiform seabirds. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2008; 211:1706-13. [PMID: 18490385 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.015412] [Citation(s) in RCA: 116] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Procellariiform seabirds wander the world's oceans aided by olfactory abilities rivaling those of any animal on earth. Over the past 15 years, I have been privileged to study the sensory ecology of procellariiforms, focusing on how olfaction contributes to behaviors, ranging from foraging and navigation to individual odor recognition, in a broader sensory context. We have developed a number of field techniques for measuring both olfactory- and visually based behaviors in chicks and adults of various species. Our choice of test odors has been informed by long-term dietary studies and geochemical data on the production and distribution of identifiable, scented compounds found in productive waters. This multidisciplinary approach has shown us that odors provide different information over the ocean depending on the spatial scale. At large spatial scales (thousands of square kilometers), an olfactory landscape superimposed upon the ocean surface reflects oceanographic or bathymetric features where phytoplankton accumulate and an area-restricted search for prey is likely to be successful. At small spatial scales (tens to hundreds of square kilometers), birds use odors and visual cues to pinpoint and capture prey directly. We have further identified species-specific, sensory-based foraging strategies, which we have begun to explore in evolutionary and developmental contexts. With respect to chemical communication among individuals, we have shown that some species can distinguish familiar individuals by scent cues alone. We are now set to explore the mechanistic basis for these discriminatory abilities in the context of kin recognition, and whether or not the major histocompatibility complex is involved.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gabrielle A Nevitt
- Section of Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior, College of Biological Sciences, University of California, Davis, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616, USA.
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27
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Freake MJ, Muheim R, Phillips JB. Magnetic maps in animals: a theory comes of age? QUARTERLY REVIEW OF BIOLOGY 2007; 81:327-47. [PMID: 17240727 DOI: 10.1086/511528] [Citation(s) in RCA: 85] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
The magnetic map hypothesis proposes that animals can use spatial gradients in the Earth's magnetic field to help determine geographic location. This ability would permit true navigation--reaching a goal from an entirely unfamiliar site with no goal-emanating cues to assist. It is a highly contentious hypothesis since the geomagnetic field fluctuates in time and spatial gradients may be disturbed by geological anomalies. Nevertheless, a substantial body of evidence offers support for the hypothesis. Much of the evidence has been indirect in nature, such as the identification of avian magnetoreceptor mechanisms with functional properties that are consistent with those of a putative map detector or the patterns of orientation of animals exposed to temporal and/or spatial geomagnetic anomalies. However; the most important advances have been made in conducting direct tests of the magnetic map hypothesis by exposing experienced migrants to specific geomagnetic values representing simulated displacements. Appropriate shifts in the direction of orientation, which compensate for the simulated displacements, have been observed in newts, birds, sea turtles, and lobsters, and provide the strongest evidence to date for magnetic map navigation. Careful experimental design and interpretation of orientation data will be essential in the future to determine which components of the magnetic field are used to derive geographic position.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael J Freake
- Department of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Lee University Cleveland, Tennessee 37311, USA.
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28
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Åkesson S, Hedenström A. How Migrants Get There: Migratory Performance and Orientation. Bioscience 2007. [DOI: 10.1641/b570207] [Citation(s) in RCA: 167] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022] Open
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Nevitt GA, Bonadonna F. Sensitivity to dimethyl sulphide suggests a mechanism for olfactory navigation by seabirds. Biol Lett 2007; 1:303-5. [PMID: 17148193 PMCID: PMC1617144 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2005.0350] [Citation(s) in RCA: 112] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Petrels, albatrosses and other procellariiform seabirds have an excellent sense of smell, and routinely navigate over the world's oceans by mechanisms that are not well understood. These birds travel thousands of kilometres to forage on ephemeral prey patches at variable locations, yet they can quickly and efficiently find their way back to their nests on remote islands to provision chicks, even with magnetic senses experimentally disrupted. Over the seemingly featureless ocean environment, local emissions of scents released by phytoplankton reflect bathymetric features such as shelf breaks and seamounts. These features suggest an odour landscape that may provide birds with orientation cues. We have previously shown that concentrated experimental deployments of one such compound, dimethyl sulphide (DMS), attracts procellariiforms at sea, suggesting that some species can use it as a foraging cue. Here we present the first physiological demonstration that an Antarctic seabird can detect DMS at biogenic levels. We further show that birds can use DMS as an orientation cue in a non-foraging context within a concentration range that they might naturally encounter over the ocean.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gabrielle A Nevitt
- Centre for Animal Behaviour, Section of Neurobiology, Physiology and Behaviour, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA.
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30
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Luschi P, Benhamou S, Girard C, Ciccione S, Roos D, Sudre J, Benvenuti S. Marine Turtles Use Geomagnetic Cues during Open-Sea Homing. Curr Biol 2007; 17:126-33. [PMID: 17240337 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2006.11.062] [Citation(s) in RCA: 59] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2006] [Revised: 10/23/2006] [Accepted: 11/03/2006] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
Marine turtles are renowned long-distance navigators, able to reach remote targets in the oceanic environment; yet the sensory cues and navigational mechanisms they employ remain unclear [1, 3]. Recent arena experiments indicated an involvement of magnetic cues in juvenile turtles' homing ability after simulated displacements [4, 5], but the actual role of geomagnetic information in guiding turtles navigating in their natural environment has remained beyond the reach of experimental investigations. In the present experiment, twenty satellite-tracked green turtles (Chelonia mydas) were transported to four open-sea release sites 100-120 km from their nesting beach on Mayotte island in the Mozambique Channel; 13 of them had magnets attached to their head either during the outward journey or during the homing trip. All but one turtle safely returned to Mayotte to complete their egg-laying cycle, albeit with indirect routes, and showed a general inability to take into account the deflecting action of ocean currents as estimated through remote-sensing oceanographic measurements [7]. Magnetically treated turtles displayed a significant lengthening of their homing paths with respect to controls, either when treated during transportation or when treated during homing. These findings represent the first field evidence for the involvement of geomagnetic cues in sea-turtle navigation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paolo Luschi
- Dipartimento di Biologia, University of Pisa, Via A. Volta 6, I-56126 Pisa, Italy.
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Abstract
Behavioral researchers have attached magnets to birds during orientation experiments, assuming that such magnets will disrupt their ability to obtain magnetic information. Here, we investigate the effect of an attached magnet on the ability to derive directional information from a radical-pair based compass mechanism. We outline in some detail the geometrical symmetries that would allow a bird to identify magnetic directions in a radical-pair based compass. We show that the artificial field through an attached magnet will quickly disrupt the birds' ability to distinguish pole-ward from equator-ward headings, but that much stronger fields are necessary to disrupt their ability to detect the magnetic axis. Together with estimates of the functional limits of a radical-pair based compass, our calculations suggest that artificial fields of comparable size to the geomagnetic field are not generally sufficient to render a radical-pair based compass non-functional.
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Affiliation(s)
- K Wang
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697-4575, USA
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33
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Benhamou S. Detecting an orientation component in animal paths when the preferred direction is individual-dependent. Ecology 2006; 87:518-28. [PMID: 16637375 DOI: 10.1890/05-0495] [Citation(s) in RCA: 63] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
An orientation component leads to directionally biased paths, with major consequences in animal population redistribution. Classical orientation analyses, which focus on the overall direction of motion, are useless for detecting such a component when the preferred direction is not common to the whole population, but differs from one path to another. In-depth path analyses are required in this case. They consist of determining whether paths are more suitably represented as biased or unbiased random walks. The answer is not easy because most animals' paths show some forward persistence propensity that acts as a purely local directional bias and, hence, blurs the possible occurrence of an additional, consistent bias in a preferred direction. I highlight the key differences between biased and unbiased random walks and the different ways orientation mechanisms can generate a consistent directional bias. I then examine the strength and weakness of the available methods likely to detect it. Finally, I introduce a new procedure based on the backward evolution of the beeline distance, from the end of the path, which might correspond to a goal toward which the animal orients itself, to each of the animal's preceding locations. This new procedure proves to be very efficient, as it requires only a small sample of short paths for detecting a possible orientation component.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simon Benhamou
- Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive, CNRS, Montpellier, France.
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Wiltschko W, Stapput K, Thalau P, Wiltschko R. Avian magnetic compass: fast adjustment to intensities outside the normal functional window. Naturwissenschaften 2006; 93:300-4. [PMID: 16586120 DOI: 10.1007/s00114-006-0102-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/21/2005] [Accepted: 02/22/2006] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
To determine how fast birds can adapt to magnetic intensities outside the normal functional window of their magnetic compass, we tested migratory birds in a magnetic field of 92,000 nT, twice the intensity of the local geomagnetic field at the test site in Frankfurt a.M., Germany. In the local field, robins showed a significant preference of their southerly migratory direction, whereas in the 92,000-nT field, they were initially disoriented. However, when the birds were preexposed to 92,000 nT for 1 h before being tested, they were able to orient under this intensity, and their behavior did not differ from that in the geomagnetic field. These data show that birds require only a short time to adjust to magnetic intensities, which they cannot spontaneously use for orientation. Interpreting these findings in view of the radical pair model (Ritz et al. 2000), this means that they can learn rather quickly to interpret novel activation patterns on their retina.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wolfgang Wiltschko
- Fachbereich Biowissenschaften der J.W. Goethe-Universität Frankfurt, Siesmayerstrasse 70, 60054 Frankfurt a.M., Germany.
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Bingman V, Cheng K. Mechanisms of animal global navigation: comparative perspectives and enduring challenges. ETHOL ECOL EVOL 2005. [DOI: 10.1080/08927014.2005.9522584] [Citation(s) in RCA: 55] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
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Mouritsen H, Ritz T. Magnetoreception and its use in bird navigation. Curr Opin Neurobiol 2005; 15:406-14. [PMID: 16006116 DOI: 10.1016/j.conb.2005.06.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 120] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2005] [Accepted: 06/30/2005] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
Recent advances have brought new insight into the physiological mechanisms that enable birds and other animals to use magnetic fields for orientation. Many birds seem to have two magnetodetection senses, one based on magnetite near the beak and one based on light-dependent radical-pair processes in the bird's eye(s). Among the most exciting recent results are: first, behavioural responses of birds experiencing oscillating magnetic fields. Second, the occurrence of putative magnetosensory molecules, the cryptochromes, in the eyes of migratory birds. Third, detection of a brain area that integrates specialised visual input at night in night-migratory songbirds. Fourth, a putative magnetosensory cluster of magnetite in the upper beak. These and other recent findings have important implications for magnetoreception; however, many crucial open questions remain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Henrik Mouritsen
- Volkswagen Nachwuchsgruppe Animal Navigation, Institute of Biology, University of Oldenburg, D-26111 Oldenburg, Germany.
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