Response of an Afro-Palearctic bird migrant to glaciation cycles
(2021) In Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 118(52).- Abstract
Migration allows animals to exploit spatially separated and seasonally available resources at a continental to global scale. However, responding to global climatic changes might prove challenging, especially for long-distance intercontinental migrants. During glacial periods, when conditions became too harsh for breeding in the north, avian migrants have been hypothesized to retract their distribution to reside within small refugial areas. Here, we present data showing that an Afro-Palearctic migrant continued seasonal migration, largely within Africa, during previous glacial-interglacial cycles with no obvious impact on population size. Using individual migratory track data to hindcast monthly bioclimatic habitat availability maps... (More)
Migration allows animals to exploit spatially separated and seasonally available resources at a continental to global scale. However, responding to global climatic changes might prove challenging, especially for long-distance intercontinental migrants. During glacial periods, when conditions became too harsh for breeding in the north, avian migrants have been hypothesized to retract their distribution to reside within small refugial areas. Here, we present data showing that an Afro-Palearctic migrant continued seasonal migration, largely within Africa, during previous glacial-interglacial cycles with no obvious impact on population size. Using individual migratory track data to hindcast monthly bioclimatic habitat availability maps through the last 120,000 y, we show altered seasonal use of suitable areas through time. Independently derived effective population sizes indicate a growing population through the last 40,000 y. We conclude that the migratory lifestyle enabled adaptation to shifting climate conditions. This indicates that populations of resource-tracking, longdistance migratory species could expand successfully during warming periods in the past, which could also be the case under future climate scenarios.
(Less)
- author
- organization
- publishing date
- 2021-12
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Effective population size, Hindcasting, Long-distance migration, Paleoclimate reconstruction
- in
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
- volume
- 118
- issue
- 52
- article number
- e2023836118
- publisher
- National Academy of Sciences
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85122587583
- pmid:34949638
- ISSN
- 0027-8424
- DOI
- 10.1073/pnas.2023836118
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 421bbf6d-1813-481b-997f-cdfb7b4254b9
- date added to LUP
- 2022-03-09 13:43:59
- date last changed
- 2024-06-13 11:18:57
@article{421bbf6d-1813-481b-997f-cdfb7b4254b9,
abstract = {{<p>Migration allows animals to exploit spatially separated and seasonally available resources at a continental to global scale. However, responding to global climatic changes might prove challenging, especially for long-distance intercontinental migrants. During glacial periods, when conditions became too harsh for breeding in the north, avian migrants have been hypothesized to retract their distribution to reside within small refugial areas. Here, we present data showing that an Afro-Palearctic migrant continued seasonal migration, largely within Africa, during previous glacial-interglacial cycles with no obvious impact on population size. Using individual migratory track data to hindcast monthly bioclimatic habitat availability maps through the last 120,000 y, we show altered seasonal use of suitable areas through time. Independently derived effective population sizes indicate a growing population through the last 40,000 y. We conclude that the migratory lifestyle enabled adaptation to shifting climate conditions. This indicates that populations of resource-tracking, longdistance migratory species could expand successfully during warming periods in the past, which could also be the case under future climate scenarios.</p>}},
author = {{Thorup, Kasper and Pedersen, Lykke and Da Fonseca, Rute R. and Naimi, Babak and Nogués-Bravo, David and Krapp, Mario and Manica, Andrea and Willemoesa, Mikkel and Sjöberg, Sissel and Feng, Shaohong and Chen, Guangji and Rey-Iglesia, Alba and Campos, Paula F. and Beyerd, Robert and Araújo, Miguel B. and Hansen, Anders J. and Zhang, Guojie and Tøttrup, Anders P. and Rahbek, Carsten}},
issn = {{0027-8424}},
keywords = {{Effective population size; Hindcasting; Long-distance migration; Paleoclimate reconstruction}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{52}},
publisher = {{National Academy of Sciences}},
series = {{Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America}},
title = {{Response of an Afro-Palearctic bird migrant to glaciation cycles}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2023836118}},
doi = {{10.1073/pnas.2023836118}},
volume = {{118}},
year = {{2021}},
}