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Effects of wind and weather on red admiral, Vanessa atalanta, migration at a coastal site in southern Sweden

Brattström, Oskar LU ; Kjellén, Nils LU ; Alerstam, Thomas LU and Åkesson, Susanne LU (2008) In Animal Behaviour 76. p.335-344
Abstract
Each autumn, large numbers of red admirals migrate throughout northern Europe,flying south, to reach areas with conditions suitable for surviving the winter. We observed the visible butterfly migration at Falsterbo peninsula, the southwesternmost point in Sweden, where red admirals are seen most autumns. ying towards the Danish coast on their way to more southern parts of Europe. Weather parameters from a local weather station were used to analyse what factors are important for red admiral migration across the sea. Wind direction was among the important weather variables affecting the initiation of the migratory departure; most other studies of butterfly migration reported no large effect of wind direction. This difference is probably... (More)
Each autumn, large numbers of red admirals migrate throughout northern Europe,flying south, to reach areas with conditions suitable for surviving the winter. We observed the visible butterfly migration at Falsterbo peninsula, the southwesternmost point in Sweden, where red admirals are seen most autumns. ying towards the Danish coast on their way to more southern parts of Europe. Weather parameters from a local weather station were used to analyse what factors are important for red admiral migration across the sea. Wind direction was among the important weather variables affecting the initiation of the migratory departure; most other studies of butterfly migration reported no large effect of wind direction. This difference is probably because the butterflies in our study were about to cross open sea for more than 20 km, whereas most previous studies were from inland locations where butterflies could avoid wind effects by. ying close to the ground or on the lee side of topographical features. Other important weather variables affecting red admiral migration at Falsterbo were low wind speed and clear skies. The flight direction at Falsterbo was towards the west, which is in contrast to the southward direction generally reported during autumn migration in this species. This is probably because the red admirals followed both the local topography and the closest route to land on the other side and therefore deviated from the normally preferred direction to minimize flight over open water. (c) 2008 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. (Less)
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author
; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
wind, weather, visual observation, Vanessa atalanta, topography, sea crossing, red admiral, orientation, butterfly, migration
in
Animal Behaviour
volume
76
pages
335 - 344
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • wos:000257642200011
  • scopus:46849089681
ISSN
1095-8282
DOI
10.1016/j.anbehav.2008.02.011
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
91a26170-d1f1-4959-92a1-4318fe9c8afb (old id 1255185)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 12:04:28
date last changed
2024-01-08 07:22:17
@article{91a26170-d1f1-4959-92a1-4318fe9c8afb,
  abstract     = {{Each autumn, large numbers of red admirals migrate throughout northern Europe,flying south, to reach areas with conditions suitable for surviving the winter. We observed the visible butterfly migration at Falsterbo peninsula, the southwesternmost point in Sweden, where red admirals are seen most autumns. ying towards the Danish coast on their way to more southern parts of Europe. Weather parameters from a local weather station were used to analyse what factors are important for red admiral migration across the sea. Wind direction was among the important weather variables affecting the initiation of the migratory departure; most other studies of butterfly migration reported no large effect of wind direction. This difference is probably because the butterflies in our study were about to cross open sea for more than 20 km, whereas most previous studies were from inland locations where butterflies could avoid wind effects by. ying close to the ground or on the lee side of topographical features. Other important weather variables affecting red admiral migration at Falsterbo were low wind speed and clear skies. The flight direction at Falsterbo was towards the west, which is in contrast to the southward direction generally reported during autumn migration in this species. This is probably because the red admirals followed both the local topography and the closest route to land on the other side and therefore deviated from the normally preferred direction to minimize flight over open water. (c) 2008 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.}},
  author       = {{Brattström, Oskar and Kjellén, Nils and Alerstam, Thomas and Åkesson, Susanne}},
  issn         = {{1095-8282}},
  keywords     = {{wind; weather; visual observation; Vanessa atalanta; topography; sea crossing; red admiral; orientation; butterfly; migration}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{335--344}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Animal Behaviour}},
  title        = {{Effects of wind and weather on red admiral, Vanessa atalanta, migration at a coastal site in southern Sweden}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2008.02.011}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.anbehav.2008.02.011}},
  volume       = {{76}},
  year         = {{2008}},
}