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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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 |
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Wiley Online Library |
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language |
English |
topic |
Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics |
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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 |
_version_ |
1795670533933629440 |