Whimbrel populations differ in trans-atlantic pathways and cyclone encounters
Abstract Each year hundreds of millions of birds cross the Atlantic Ocean during the peak of tropical cyclone activity. The extent and consequences of migrant-storm interactions remain unknown. We tracked whimbrels from two populations (Mackenzie Delta; Hudson Bay) to examine overlap between migrati...
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2021
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-92429-z http://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-92429-z.pdf http://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-92429-z |
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crspringernat:10.1038/s41598-021-92429-z 2023-05-15T16:35:18+02:00 Whimbrel populations differ in trans-atlantic pathways and cyclone encounters Watts, Bryan D. Smith, Fletcher M. Hines, Chance Duval, Laura Hamilton, Diana J. Keyes, Tim Paquet, Julie Pirie-Dominix, Lisa Rausch, Jennie Truitt, Barry Winn, Brad Woodard, Paul U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Environment and Climate Change Canada The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation's Atlantic Flyway Shorebird Initiative Virginia Coastal Zone Management Program at the Department of Environmental Quality the New Brunswick Wildlife Trust Fund The Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Non-game Section the Environmental Resources Network, a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Discovery Grant Polar Continental Shelf Program the Cumulative Impacts Monitoring Program The Nature Conservancy Manomet, Inc. 2021 http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-92429-z http://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-92429-z.pdf http://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-92429-z en eng Springer Science and Business Media LLC https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 CC-BY Scientific Reports volume 11, issue 1 ISSN 2045-2322 Multidisciplinary journal-article 2021 crspringernat https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-92429-z 2022-01-04T15:25:01Z Abstract Each year hundreds of millions of birds cross the Atlantic Ocean during the peak of tropical cyclone activity. The extent and consequences of migrant-storm interactions remain unknown. We tracked whimbrels from two populations (Mackenzie Delta; Hudson Bay) to examine overlap between migration routes and storm activity and both the frequency and consequence of storm encounters. Here we show that Mackenzie Delta and Hudson Bay whimbrels follow different routes across the ocean and experience dramatically different rates of storm encounters. Mackenzie Delta whimbrels departed North America from Atlantic Canada, made long ( $$\bar{x}$$ x ¯ = 5440 ± 120.3 km) nonstop flights far out to sea that took several days ( $$\bar{x}$$ x ¯ = 6.1 ± 0.18) to complete and encountered storms during 3 of 22 crossings. Hudson Bay whimbrels departed North America from the south Atlantic Coast, made shorter ( $$\bar{x}$$ x ¯ = 3643 ± 196.2 km) nonstop flights across the Caribbean Basin that took less time ( $$\bar{x}$$ x ¯ = 4.5 ± 0.29) to complete and encountered storms during 13 of 18 crossings. More than half of Hudson Bay storm encounters resulted in groundings on Caribbean islands. Grounded birds required longer ( $$\bar{x}$$ x ¯ = 30.4 ± 5.32 days) to complete trans-Atlantic crossings and three were lost including 2 to hunters and 1 to a predator. One of the Mackenzie Delta whimbrels was lost at sea while crossing the Intertropical Convergence Zone. Whimbrels use two contrasting strategies to cross the Atlantic including (1) a long nonstop flight around the core of storm activity with a low likelihood of encountering storms but no safety net and (2) a shorter flight through the heart of Hurricane Alley with a high likelihood of encountering storms and a safety network of islands to use in the event of an encounter. Demographic consequences of storm encounters will likely play a role in the ongoing evolution of trans-Atlantic migration pathways as global temperatures continue to rise. Article in Journal/Newspaper Hudson Bay Mackenzie Delta Whimbrel Springer Nature (via Crossref) Hudson Bay Canada Hudson Mackenzie Delta ENVELOPE(-136.672,-136.672,68.833,68.833) Scientific Reports 11 1 |
institution |
Open Polar |
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Springer Nature (via Crossref) |
op_collection_id |
crspringernat |
language |
English |
topic |
Multidisciplinary |
spellingShingle |
Multidisciplinary Watts, Bryan D. Smith, Fletcher M. Hines, Chance Duval, Laura Hamilton, Diana J. Keyes, Tim Paquet, Julie Pirie-Dominix, Lisa Rausch, Jennie Truitt, Barry Winn, Brad Woodard, Paul Whimbrel populations differ in trans-atlantic pathways and cyclone encounters |
topic_facet |
Multidisciplinary |
description |
Abstract Each year hundreds of millions of birds cross the Atlantic Ocean during the peak of tropical cyclone activity. The extent and consequences of migrant-storm interactions remain unknown. We tracked whimbrels from two populations (Mackenzie Delta; Hudson Bay) to examine overlap between migration routes and storm activity and both the frequency and consequence of storm encounters. Here we show that Mackenzie Delta and Hudson Bay whimbrels follow different routes across the ocean and experience dramatically different rates of storm encounters. Mackenzie Delta whimbrels departed North America from Atlantic Canada, made long ( $$\bar{x}$$ x ¯ = 5440 ± 120.3 km) nonstop flights far out to sea that took several days ( $$\bar{x}$$ x ¯ = 6.1 ± 0.18) to complete and encountered storms during 3 of 22 crossings. Hudson Bay whimbrels departed North America from the south Atlantic Coast, made shorter ( $$\bar{x}$$ x ¯ = 3643 ± 196.2 km) nonstop flights across the Caribbean Basin that took less time ( $$\bar{x}$$ x ¯ = 4.5 ± 0.29) to complete and encountered storms during 13 of 18 crossings. More than half of Hudson Bay storm encounters resulted in groundings on Caribbean islands. Grounded birds required longer ( $$\bar{x}$$ x ¯ = 30.4 ± 5.32 days) to complete trans-Atlantic crossings and three were lost including 2 to hunters and 1 to a predator. One of the Mackenzie Delta whimbrels was lost at sea while crossing the Intertropical Convergence Zone. Whimbrels use two contrasting strategies to cross the Atlantic including (1) a long nonstop flight around the core of storm activity with a low likelihood of encountering storms but no safety net and (2) a shorter flight through the heart of Hurricane Alley with a high likelihood of encountering storms and a safety network of islands to use in the event of an encounter. Demographic consequences of storm encounters will likely play a role in the ongoing evolution of trans-Atlantic migration pathways as global temperatures continue to rise. |
author2 |
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Environment and Climate Change Canada The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation's Atlantic Flyway Shorebird Initiative Virginia Coastal Zone Management Program at the Department of Environmental Quality the New Brunswick Wildlife Trust Fund The Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Non-game Section the Environmental Resources Network, a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Discovery Grant Polar Continental Shelf Program the Cumulative Impacts Monitoring Program The Nature Conservancy Manomet, Inc. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Watts, Bryan D. Smith, Fletcher M. Hines, Chance Duval, Laura Hamilton, Diana J. Keyes, Tim Paquet, Julie Pirie-Dominix, Lisa Rausch, Jennie Truitt, Barry Winn, Brad Woodard, Paul |
author_facet |
Watts, Bryan D. Smith, Fletcher M. Hines, Chance Duval, Laura Hamilton, Diana J. Keyes, Tim Paquet, Julie Pirie-Dominix, Lisa Rausch, Jennie Truitt, Barry Winn, Brad Woodard, Paul |
author_sort |
Watts, Bryan D. |
title |
Whimbrel populations differ in trans-atlantic pathways and cyclone encounters |
title_short |
Whimbrel populations differ in trans-atlantic pathways and cyclone encounters |
title_full |
Whimbrel populations differ in trans-atlantic pathways and cyclone encounters |
title_fullStr |
Whimbrel populations differ in trans-atlantic pathways and cyclone encounters |
title_full_unstemmed |
Whimbrel populations differ in trans-atlantic pathways and cyclone encounters |
title_sort |
whimbrel populations differ in trans-atlantic pathways and cyclone encounters |
publisher |
Springer Science and Business Media LLC |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-92429-z http://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-92429-z.pdf http://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-92429-z |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-136.672,-136.672,68.833,68.833) |
geographic |
Hudson Bay Canada Hudson Mackenzie Delta |
geographic_facet |
Hudson Bay Canada Hudson Mackenzie Delta |
genre |
Hudson Bay Mackenzie Delta Whimbrel |
genre_facet |
Hudson Bay Mackenzie Delta Whimbrel |
op_source |
Scientific Reports volume 11, issue 1 ISSN 2045-2322 |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-92429-z |
container_title |
Scientific Reports |
container_volume |
11 |
container_issue |
1 |
_version_ |
1766025518320189440 |