Behavioural synchronization of large-scale animal movements - disperse alone, but migrate together?

Dispersal and migration are superficially similar large-scale movements, but which appear to differ in terms of inter-individual behavioural synchronization. Seasonal migration is a striking example of coordinated behaviour, enabling animal populations to track spatio-temporal variation in ecologica...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Biological Reviews
Main Authors: Cote, Julien, Bocedi, Greta, Debeffe, Lucie, Chudzinska, Magda E., Weigang, Helene C., Dytham, Calvin, Gonzalez, Georges, Matthysen, Erik, Travis, Justin, Baguette, Michel, Hewison, A. J. Mark
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 2017
Subjects:
dispersal
seasonal migration
social grouping
coalition
budding
transience
sociability
parallel dispersal
schooling
coordinated movement
WILD BIRD POPULATION
SPATIALLY STRUCTURED POPULATIONS
PERSONALITY-DEPENDENT DISPERSAL
WHALES MEGAPTERA-NOVAEANGLIAE
BREEDING HABITAT SELECTION
INFLUENCE NATAL DISPERSAL
LONG-DISTANCE MIGRATION
MALE PARALLEL DISPERSAL
WHITE-FACED CAPUCHINS
OWL AEGOLIUS-FUNEREUS
Megaptera novaeangliae
Online Access:https://pure.au.dk/portal/en/publications/968e0261-9cc0-4cda-945a-86aaf6a3bc7b
https://doi.org/10.1111/brv.12279
Description
Summary:Dispersal and migration are superficially similar large-scale movements, but which appear to differ in terms of inter-individual behavioural synchronization. Seasonal migration is a striking example of coordinated behaviour, enabling animal populations to track spatio-temporal variation in ecological conditions. By contrast, for dispersal, while social context may influence an individual's emigration and settlement decisions, transience is believed to be mostly a solitary behaviour. Here, we review differences in drivers that may explain why migration appears to be more synchronized than dispersal. We derive the prediction that the contrast in the importance of behavioural synchronization between dispersal and migration is linked to differences in the selection pressures that drive their respective evolution. Although documented examples of collective dispersal are rare, this behaviour may be more common than currently believed, with important consequences for eco-evolutionary dynamics. Crucially, to date, there is little available theory for predicting when we should expect collective dispersal to evolve, and we also lack empirical data to test predictions across species. By reviewing the state of the art in research on migration and collective movements, we identify how we can harness these advances, both in terms of theory and data collection, to broaden our understanding of synchronized dispersal and its importance in the context of global change.

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