Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Migratory behavior and its genetic basis in willow warblers Phylloscopus trochilus

Sokolovskis, Kristaps LU orcid (2023)
Abstract
Right before northern hemisphere’s summer shifts to autumn small insect-eating
birds start lengthy journeys to tropical regions. It is well established that temporary
lack food and annual changes in weather are the ultimate reasons for this behavior.
On a proximal level however, the process is poorly understood. Yet cross
continental bird migration is a widespread phenomenon that has evolved several
times independently. Different species execute specific migration routes with
remarkable precision, over narrow species-specific time windows. Even more
remarkable is that songbirds migrate alone thus relying only on internal cues. Routes
and exact winter locations can vary substantially even between populations... (More)
Right before northern hemisphere’s summer shifts to autumn small insect-eating
birds start lengthy journeys to tropical regions. It is well established that temporary
lack food and annual changes in weather are the ultimate reasons for this behavior.
On a proximal level however, the process is poorly understood. Yet cross
continental bird migration is a widespread phenomenon that has evolved several
times independently. Different species execute specific migration routes with
remarkable precision, over narrow species-specific time windows. Even more
remarkable is that songbirds migrate alone thus relying only on internal cues. Routes
and exact winter locations can vary substantially even between populations of one
species. Crossbreeding experiments have proved that migration direction and timing
are highly heritable. However, we are still clueless on which exact genes encode
information necessary for migration. I studied the willow warbler Phylloscopus
trochilus, a common songbird that breeds across the whole of northern Eurasia and
spends the non-breeding period exclusively in tropical Africa. The far east Siberian
subspecies P.t. yakutensis winters in south-east Africa and begin the journey by
flying NW. Northern and Eastern European willow warblers P.t. acredula are
migrating towards southern Africa and start the migration by heading SSE. Western
European and southern Scandinavian populations P.t. trochilus head towards West
Africa and initiate fall migration by flying SSW. European trochilus and acredula
are nearly identical genetically except for two inversion polymorphisms on
chromosomes 1 and 5, and presence or absence of a large repeat block (MARB-a).
Far east Siberian yakutensis are genetically almost inseparable from Scandinavian
acredula, except for a set of nearly fixed differences on a small region on
chromosome 6. I deployed small tracking devices to record migratory routes of
willow warblers from breeding sites in Sweden and eastern Russia and
supplemented the tracking results with molecular methods to search for genes
associated with the migratory behaviors. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
supervisor
opponent
  • Associate professor Ruegg, Kristen, Department of Biology, Colorado State University, USA
organization
publishing date
type
Thesis
publication status
published
subject
keywords
bird migration, behavioral genetics, light level geolocator, Phylloscopus trochilus, willow warbler
pages
143 pages
publisher
Lund University
defense location
Blå hallen, Ekologihuset
defense date
2023-03-31 09:00:00
ISBN
978-91-8039-569-4
978-91-8039-568-7
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
b32fae43-83cc-4213-924b-d0b546e0a682
date added to LUP
2023-02-20 15:20:25
date last changed
2023-03-02 14:01:12
@phdthesis{b32fae43-83cc-4213-924b-d0b546e0a682,
  abstract     = {{Right before northern hemisphere’s summer shifts to autumn small insect-eating<br/>birds start lengthy journeys to tropical regions. It is well established that temporary<br/>lack food and annual changes in weather are the ultimate reasons for this behavior.<br/>On a proximal level however, the process is poorly understood. Yet cross<br/>continental bird migration is a widespread phenomenon that has evolved several<br/>times independently. Different species execute specific migration routes with<br/>remarkable precision, over narrow species-specific time windows. Even more<br/>remarkable is that songbirds migrate alone thus relying only on internal cues. Routes<br/>and exact winter locations can vary substantially even between populations of one<br/>species. Crossbreeding experiments have proved that migration direction and timing<br/>are highly heritable. However, we are still clueless on which exact genes encode<br/>information necessary for migration. I studied the willow warbler Phylloscopus<br/>trochilus, a common songbird that breeds across the whole of northern Eurasia and<br/>spends the non-breeding period exclusively in tropical Africa. The far east Siberian<br/>subspecies P.t. yakutensis winters in south-east Africa and begin the journey by<br/>flying NW. Northern and Eastern European willow warblers P.t. acredula are<br/>migrating towards southern Africa and start the migration by heading SSE. Western<br/>European and southern Scandinavian populations P.t. trochilus head towards West<br/>Africa and initiate fall migration by flying SSW. European trochilus and acredula<br/>are nearly identical genetically except for two inversion polymorphisms on<br/>chromosomes 1 and 5, and presence or absence of a large repeat block (MARB-a).<br/>Far east Siberian yakutensis are genetically almost inseparable from Scandinavian<br/>acredula, except for a set of nearly fixed differences on a small region on<br/>chromosome 6. I deployed small tracking devices to record migratory routes of<br/>willow warblers from breeding sites in Sweden and eastern Russia and<br/>supplemented the tracking results with molecular methods to search for genes<br/>associated with the migratory behaviors.}},
  author       = {{Sokolovskis, Kristaps}},
  isbn         = {{978-91-8039-569-4}},
  keywords     = {{bird migration; behavioral genetics; light level geolocator; Phylloscopus trochilus; willow warbler}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  publisher    = {{Lund University}},
  school       = {{Lund University}},
  title        = {{Migratory behavior and its genetic basis in willow warblers Phylloscopus trochilus}},
  url          = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/138434018/Avhandling_Kristaps_Sokolovskis_no_papers.pdf}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}