Flexibility in otherwise consistent non-breeding movements of a long-distance migratory seabird, the long-tailed skua
Quantifying within- and between-individual variation in animal migration strategies is a first step towards our understanding of the ability of migrants to adjust to changes in the en - vironment. We studied consistency (or, conversely, flexibility) in movement patterns at large (>1000 km) to mes...
Published in: | Marine Ecology Progress Series |
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Language: | English |
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2017
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Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/11250/2443233 https://doi.org/10.3354/meps12010 |
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ftninstnf:oai:brage.nina.no:11250/2443233 2023-05-15T15:15:27+02:00 Flexibility in otherwise consistent non-breeding movements of a long-distance migratory seabird, the long-tailed skua van Bemmelen, Rob Moe, Børge Hanssen, Sveinn Are Schmidt, Niels Martin Hansen, Jannik Lang, Johannes Sittler, Benoit Bollache, Loïc Tulp, Ingrid Klaassen, Raymond Gilg, Olivier North Atlantic, Benguela Current of Namibia, South Africa 2017-02-15 application/pdf http://hdl.handle.net/11250/2443233 https://doi.org/10.3354/meps12010 eng eng urn:issn:0171-8630 http://hdl.handle.net/11250/2443233 https://doi.org/10.3354/meps12010 cristin:1455240 Navngivelse 4.0 Internasjonal http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.no CC-BY Marine Ecology Progress Series Individual consistency Repeatability Stercorarius longicaudus Seabirds Tracking Non-breeding movements Flexibility VDP::Zoologiske og botaniske fag: 480 VDP::Zoology and botany: 480 Journal article Peer reviewed 2017 ftninstnf https://doi.org/10.3354/meps12010 2021-12-23T07:16:54Z Quantifying within- and between-individual variation in animal migration strategies is a first step towards our understanding of the ability of migrants to adjust to changes in the en - vironment. We studied consistency (or, conversely, flexibility) in movement patterns at large (>1000 km) to meso-scales (100−1000 km) during the non-breeding season of the long-tailed skua Stercorarius longicaudus, a long-distance migratory Arctic seabird, using light-based geolocation. We obtained 97 annual tracks of 38 individuals and quantified similarity between routes. Overall, tracks of the same individual were generally within about 200 to 300 km of their previous year’s route, and more similar than tracks of different individuals. Some flexibility was observed during migration, but individuals were faithful to their staging areas in the North Atlantic and in the Benguela Current off Namibia and South Africa. Over the course of the winter, an increasing number of individuals started to deviate—up to 5200 km—from the previous year’s route. Intriguingly, individuals could be highly consistent between 2 consecutive years and flexible between other years. Site-shifts in late winter seem to reflect responses to local conditions, but what promotes this larger flexibility remains unclear and requires further study. Our results show that individual long-tailed skuas are generally consistent in their itineraries, but can show considerable flexibility in some years. The flexibility in itineraries suggests that long-tailed skuas are able to adjust to environmental change, but the mechanisms leading to the observed within- and between-individual variation in movement patterns are still poorly understood. Individual consistency · Repeatability · Stercorarius longicaudus · Seabirds · Tracking · Non-breeding movements · Flexibility Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Long-tailed Skua North Atlantic Stercorarius longicaudus Norwegian Institute for Nature Research: Brage NINA Arctic Marine Ecology Progress Series 578 197 211 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Norwegian Institute for Nature Research: Brage NINA |
op_collection_id |
ftninstnf |
language |
English |
topic |
Individual consistency Repeatability Stercorarius longicaudus Seabirds Tracking Non-breeding movements Flexibility VDP::Zoologiske og botaniske fag: 480 VDP::Zoology and botany: 480 |
spellingShingle |
Individual consistency Repeatability Stercorarius longicaudus Seabirds Tracking Non-breeding movements Flexibility VDP::Zoologiske og botaniske fag: 480 VDP::Zoology and botany: 480 van Bemmelen, Rob Moe, Børge Hanssen, Sveinn Are Schmidt, Niels Martin Hansen, Jannik Lang, Johannes Sittler, Benoit Bollache, Loïc Tulp, Ingrid Klaassen, Raymond Gilg, Olivier Flexibility in otherwise consistent non-breeding movements of a long-distance migratory seabird, the long-tailed skua |
topic_facet |
Individual consistency Repeatability Stercorarius longicaudus Seabirds Tracking Non-breeding movements Flexibility VDP::Zoologiske og botaniske fag: 480 VDP::Zoology and botany: 480 |
description |
Quantifying within- and between-individual variation in animal migration strategies is a first step towards our understanding of the ability of migrants to adjust to changes in the en - vironment. We studied consistency (or, conversely, flexibility) in movement patterns at large (>1000 km) to meso-scales (100−1000 km) during the non-breeding season of the long-tailed skua Stercorarius longicaudus, a long-distance migratory Arctic seabird, using light-based geolocation. We obtained 97 annual tracks of 38 individuals and quantified similarity between routes. Overall, tracks of the same individual were generally within about 200 to 300 km of their previous year’s route, and more similar than tracks of different individuals. Some flexibility was observed during migration, but individuals were faithful to their staging areas in the North Atlantic and in the Benguela Current off Namibia and South Africa. Over the course of the winter, an increasing number of individuals started to deviate—up to 5200 km—from the previous year’s route. Intriguingly, individuals could be highly consistent between 2 consecutive years and flexible between other years. Site-shifts in late winter seem to reflect responses to local conditions, but what promotes this larger flexibility remains unclear and requires further study. Our results show that individual long-tailed skuas are generally consistent in their itineraries, but can show considerable flexibility in some years. The flexibility in itineraries suggests that long-tailed skuas are able to adjust to environmental change, but the mechanisms leading to the observed within- and between-individual variation in movement patterns are still poorly understood. Individual consistency · Repeatability · Stercorarius longicaudus · Seabirds · Tracking · Non-breeding movements · Flexibility |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
van Bemmelen, Rob Moe, Børge Hanssen, Sveinn Are Schmidt, Niels Martin Hansen, Jannik Lang, Johannes Sittler, Benoit Bollache, Loïc Tulp, Ingrid Klaassen, Raymond Gilg, Olivier |
author_facet |
van Bemmelen, Rob Moe, Børge Hanssen, Sveinn Are Schmidt, Niels Martin Hansen, Jannik Lang, Johannes Sittler, Benoit Bollache, Loïc Tulp, Ingrid Klaassen, Raymond Gilg, Olivier |
author_sort |
van Bemmelen, Rob |
title |
Flexibility in otherwise consistent non-breeding movements of a long-distance migratory seabird, the long-tailed skua |
title_short |
Flexibility in otherwise consistent non-breeding movements of a long-distance migratory seabird, the long-tailed skua |
title_full |
Flexibility in otherwise consistent non-breeding movements of a long-distance migratory seabird, the long-tailed skua |
title_fullStr |
Flexibility in otherwise consistent non-breeding movements of a long-distance migratory seabird, the long-tailed skua |
title_full_unstemmed |
Flexibility in otherwise consistent non-breeding movements of a long-distance migratory seabird, the long-tailed skua |
title_sort |
flexibility in otherwise consistent non-breeding movements of a long-distance migratory seabird, the long-tailed skua |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/11250/2443233 https://doi.org/10.3354/meps12010 |
op_coverage |
North Atlantic, Benguela Current of Namibia, South Africa |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic Long-tailed Skua North Atlantic Stercorarius longicaudus |
genre_facet |
Arctic Long-tailed Skua North Atlantic Stercorarius longicaudus |
op_source |
Marine Ecology Progress Series |
op_relation |
urn:issn:0171-8630 http://hdl.handle.net/11250/2443233 https://doi.org/10.3354/meps12010 cristin:1455240 |
op_rights |
Navngivelse 4.0 Internasjonal http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.no |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3354/meps12010 |
container_title |
Marine Ecology Progress Series |
container_volume |
578 |
container_start_page |
197 |
op_container_end_page |
211 |
_version_ |
1766345826264678400 |