Tracking Post-Hibernation Behavior and Early Migration Does Not Reveal the Expected Sex-Differences in a “Female-Migrating” Bat
Long-distance migration is a rare phenomenon in European bats. Genetic analyses and banding studies show that females can cover distances of up to 1,600 km, whereas males are sedentary or migrate only short distances. The onset of this sex-biased migration is supposed to occur shortly after rousing...
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ftubkonstanz:oai:kops.uni-konstanz.de:123456789/30401 2024-02-11T10:07:18+01:00 Tracking Post-Hibernation Behavior and Early Migration Does Not Reveal the Expected Sex-Differences in a “Female-Migrating” Bat Dechmann, Dina K. N. Wikelski, Martin Varga, Katarina Yohannes, Elizabeth Fiedler, Wolfgang Safi, Kamran Burkhard, Wolf-Dieter O'Mara, Michael Teague 2014 application/pdf http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bsz:352-0-274864 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0114810 eng eng http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bsz:352-0-274864 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0114810 427935776 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ PLoS ONE. 2014, 9(12), e114810. eISSN 1932-6203. Available under: doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0114810 Animal migration Bats Foraging Habitats Hibernation Spring Stable isotopes Summer ddc:570 doc-type:article doc-type:Text 2014 ftubkonstanz https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0114810 2024-01-21T23:58:59Z Long-distance migration is a rare phenomenon in European bats. Genetic analyses and banding studies show that females can cover distances of up to 1,600 km, whereas males are sedentary or migrate only short distances. The onset of this sex-biased migration is supposed to occur shortly after rousing from hibernation and when the females are already pregnant. We therefore predicted that the sexes are exposed to different energetic pressures in early spring, and this should be reflected in their behavior and physiology. We investigated this in one of the three Central European long-distance migrants, the common noctule (Nyctalus noctula) in Southern Germany recording the first individual partial migration tracks of this species. In contrast to our predictions, we found no difference between male and female home range size, activity, habitat use or diet. Males and females emerged from hibernation in similar body condition and mass increase rate was the same in males and females. We followed the first migration steps, up to 475 km, of radio-tagged individuals from an airplane. All females, as well as some of the males, migrated away from the wintering area in the same northeasterly direction. Sex differences in long-distance migratory behavior were confirmed through stable isotope analysis of hair, which showed greater variation in females than in males. We hypothesize that both sexes faced similarly good conditions after hibernation and fattened at maximum rates, thus showing no differences in their local behavior. Interesting results that warrant further investigation are the better initial condition of the females and the highly consistent direction of the first migratory step in this population as summering habitats of the common noctule occur at a broad range in Northern Europe. Only research focused on individual strategies will allow us to fully understand the migratory behavior of European bats. published published Article in Journal/Newspaper Nyctalus noctula KOPS - The Institutional Repository of the University of Konstanz PLoS ONE 9 12 e114810 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
KOPS - The Institutional Repository of the University of Konstanz |
op_collection_id |
ftubkonstanz |
language |
English |
topic |
Animal migration Bats Foraging Habitats Hibernation Spring Stable isotopes Summer ddc:570 |
spellingShingle |
Animal migration Bats Foraging Habitats Hibernation Spring Stable isotopes Summer ddc:570 Dechmann, Dina K. N. Wikelski, Martin Varga, Katarina Yohannes, Elizabeth Fiedler, Wolfgang Safi, Kamran Burkhard, Wolf-Dieter O'Mara, Michael Teague Tracking Post-Hibernation Behavior and Early Migration Does Not Reveal the Expected Sex-Differences in a “Female-Migrating” Bat |
topic_facet |
Animal migration Bats Foraging Habitats Hibernation Spring Stable isotopes Summer ddc:570 |
description |
Long-distance migration is a rare phenomenon in European bats. Genetic analyses and banding studies show that females can cover distances of up to 1,600 km, whereas males are sedentary or migrate only short distances. The onset of this sex-biased migration is supposed to occur shortly after rousing from hibernation and when the females are already pregnant. We therefore predicted that the sexes are exposed to different energetic pressures in early spring, and this should be reflected in their behavior and physiology. We investigated this in one of the three Central European long-distance migrants, the common noctule (Nyctalus noctula) in Southern Germany recording the first individual partial migration tracks of this species. In contrast to our predictions, we found no difference between male and female home range size, activity, habitat use or diet. Males and females emerged from hibernation in similar body condition and mass increase rate was the same in males and females. We followed the first migration steps, up to 475 km, of radio-tagged individuals from an airplane. All females, as well as some of the males, migrated away from the wintering area in the same northeasterly direction. Sex differences in long-distance migratory behavior were confirmed through stable isotope analysis of hair, which showed greater variation in females than in males. We hypothesize that both sexes faced similarly good conditions after hibernation and fattened at maximum rates, thus showing no differences in their local behavior. Interesting results that warrant further investigation are the better initial condition of the females and the highly consistent direction of the first migratory step in this population as summering habitats of the common noctule occur at a broad range in Northern Europe. Only research focused on individual strategies will allow us to fully understand the migratory behavior of European bats. published published |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Dechmann, Dina K. N. Wikelski, Martin Varga, Katarina Yohannes, Elizabeth Fiedler, Wolfgang Safi, Kamran Burkhard, Wolf-Dieter O'Mara, Michael Teague |
author_facet |
Dechmann, Dina K. N. Wikelski, Martin Varga, Katarina Yohannes, Elizabeth Fiedler, Wolfgang Safi, Kamran Burkhard, Wolf-Dieter O'Mara, Michael Teague |
author_sort |
Dechmann, Dina K. N. |
title |
Tracking Post-Hibernation Behavior and Early Migration Does Not Reveal the Expected Sex-Differences in a “Female-Migrating” Bat |
title_short |
Tracking Post-Hibernation Behavior and Early Migration Does Not Reveal the Expected Sex-Differences in a “Female-Migrating” Bat |
title_full |
Tracking Post-Hibernation Behavior and Early Migration Does Not Reveal the Expected Sex-Differences in a “Female-Migrating” Bat |
title_fullStr |
Tracking Post-Hibernation Behavior and Early Migration Does Not Reveal the Expected Sex-Differences in a “Female-Migrating” Bat |
title_full_unstemmed |
Tracking Post-Hibernation Behavior and Early Migration Does Not Reveal the Expected Sex-Differences in a “Female-Migrating” Bat |
title_sort |
tracking post-hibernation behavior and early migration does not reveal the expected sex-differences in a “female-migrating” bat |
publishDate |
2014 |
url |
http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bsz:352-0-274864 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0114810 |
genre |
Nyctalus noctula |
genre_facet |
Nyctalus noctula |
op_source |
PLoS ONE. 2014, 9(12), e114810. eISSN 1932-6203. Available under: doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0114810 |
op_relation |
http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bsz:352-0-274864 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0114810 427935776 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0114810 |
container_title |
PLoS ONE |
container_volume |
9 |
container_issue |
12 |
container_start_page |
e114810 |
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1790605829878054912 |