Tracking snowmelt to jump the green wave: phenological drivers of migration in a northern ungulate

Abstract In northern climates, spring is a time of rapid environmental change: for migrating terrestrial animals, melting snow facilitates foraging and travel, and newly emergent vegetation provides a valuable nutritional resource. These changes result in selection on the timing of important life‐hi...

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Published in:Ecology
Main Authors: Laforge, Michel P., Bonar, Maegwin, Vander Wal, Eric
Other Authors: Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2021
Subjects:
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ecy.3268
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ecy.3268
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1002/ecy.3268
https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ecy.3268
id crwiley:10.1002/ecy.3268
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spelling crwiley:10.1002/ecy.3268 2024-04-07T07:54:10+00:00 Tracking snowmelt to jump the green wave: phenological drivers of migration in a northern ungulate Laforge, Michel P. Bonar, Maegwin Vander Wal, Eric Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada 2021 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ecy.3268 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ecy.3268 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1002/ecy.3268 https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ecy.3268 en eng Wiley http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor Ecology volume 102, issue 3 ISSN 0012-9658 1939-9170 Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics journal-article 2021 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.3268 2024-03-14T00:40:26Z Abstract In northern climates, spring is a time of rapid environmental change: for migrating terrestrial animals, melting snow facilitates foraging and travel, and newly emergent vegetation provides a valuable nutritional resource. These changes result in selection on the timing of important life‐history events such as migration and parturition occurring when high‐quality resources are most abundant. We examined the timing of female caribou ( Rangifer tarandus , n = 94) migration and parturition in five herds across 7 yr in Newfoundland, Canada, as a function of two measures of environmental change—snowmelt and vegetation green‐up. We generated resource selection functions to test whether caribou selected for areas associated with snowmelt and green‐up during migration and following calving. We found that caribou migrated approximately 1 wk prior to snowmelt, with the flush of emergent vegetation occurring during the weeks following parturition. The results indicate that caribou “jump” the green wave of emergent forage and do so by tracking the receding edge of melting snow, likely reducing movement and foraging costs related to snow cover. Our research further broadens the ecological scope of resource tracking in animals. We demonstrate that resource tracking extends beyond resources directly related to foraging to those related to movement. We also show that snowmelt provides an environmental cue that may provide a buffer against changing environmental conditions. Article in Journal/Newspaper Newfoundland Rangifer tarandus Wiley Online Library Canada Ecology 102 3
institution Open Polar
collection Wiley Online Library
op_collection_id crwiley
language English
topic Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
spellingShingle Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
Laforge, Michel P.
Bonar, Maegwin
Vander Wal, Eric
Tracking snowmelt to jump the green wave: phenological drivers of migration in a northern ungulate
topic_facet Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
description Abstract In northern climates, spring is a time of rapid environmental change: for migrating terrestrial animals, melting snow facilitates foraging and travel, and newly emergent vegetation provides a valuable nutritional resource. These changes result in selection on the timing of important life‐history events such as migration and parturition occurring when high‐quality resources are most abundant. We examined the timing of female caribou ( Rangifer tarandus , n = 94) migration and parturition in five herds across 7 yr in Newfoundland, Canada, as a function of two measures of environmental change—snowmelt and vegetation green‐up. We generated resource selection functions to test whether caribou selected for areas associated with snowmelt and green‐up during migration and following calving. We found that caribou migrated approximately 1 wk prior to snowmelt, with the flush of emergent vegetation occurring during the weeks following parturition. The results indicate that caribou “jump” the green wave of emergent forage and do so by tracking the receding edge of melting snow, likely reducing movement and foraging costs related to snow cover. Our research further broadens the ecological scope of resource tracking in animals. We demonstrate that resource tracking extends beyond resources directly related to foraging to those related to movement. We also show that snowmelt provides an environmental cue that may provide a buffer against changing environmental conditions.
author2 Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
format Article in Journal/Newspaper
author Laforge, Michel P.
Bonar, Maegwin
Vander Wal, Eric
author_facet Laforge, Michel P.
Bonar, Maegwin
Vander Wal, Eric
author_sort Laforge, Michel P.
title Tracking snowmelt to jump the green wave: phenological drivers of migration in a northern ungulate
title_short Tracking snowmelt to jump the green wave: phenological drivers of migration in a northern ungulate
title_full Tracking snowmelt to jump the green wave: phenological drivers of migration in a northern ungulate
title_fullStr Tracking snowmelt to jump the green wave: phenological drivers of migration in a northern ungulate
title_full_unstemmed Tracking snowmelt to jump the green wave: phenological drivers of migration in a northern ungulate
title_sort tracking snowmelt to jump the green wave: phenological drivers of migration in a northern ungulate
publisher Wiley
publishDate 2021
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ecy.3268
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ecy.3268
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1002/ecy.3268
https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ecy.3268
geographic Canada
geographic_facet Canada
genre Newfoundland
Rangifer tarandus
genre_facet Newfoundland
Rangifer tarandus
op_source Ecology
volume 102, issue 3
ISSN 0012-9658 1939-9170
op_rights http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor
op_doi https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.3268
container_title Ecology
container_volume 102
container_issue 3
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