Towards a new understanding of migration timing : Slower spring than autumn migration in geese reflects different decision rules for stopover use and departure
According to migration theory and several empirical studies, long-distance migrants are more time-limited during spring migration and should therefore migrate faster in spring than in autumn. Competition for the best breeding sites is supposed to be the main driver, but timing of migration is often...
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ftunivwagenin:oai:library.wur.nl:wurpubs/498687 2024-02-04T09:58:34+01:00 Towards a new understanding of migration timing : Slower spring than autumn migration in geese reflects different decision rules for stopover use and departure Kölzsch, Andrea Muskens, Gerard Kruckenberg, Helmut Glazov, Peter Weinzierl, Rolf Nolet, Bart A. Wikelski, Martin 2016 application/pdf https://research.wur.nl/en/publications/towards-a-new-understanding-of-migration-timing-slower-spring-tha https://doi.org/10.1111/oik.03121 en eng https://edepot.wur.nl/375753 https://research.wur.nl/en/publications/towards-a-new-understanding-of-migration-timing-slower-spring-tha doi:10.1111/oik.03121 info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess Wageningen University & Research Oikos 125 (2016) 10 ISSN: 0030-1299 Life Science info:eu-repo/semantics/article Article/Letter to editor info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion 2016 ftunivwagenin https://doi.org/10.1111/oik.03121 2024-01-10T23:18:32Z According to migration theory and several empirical studies, long-distance migrants are more time-limited during spring migration and should therefore migrate faster in spring than in autumn. Competition for the best breeding sites is supposed to be the main driver, but timing of migration is often also influenced by environmental factors such as food availability and wind conditions. Using GPS tags, we tracked 65 greater white-fronted geese Anser albifrons migrating between western Europe and the Russian Arctic during spring and autumn migration over six different years. Contrary to theory, our birds took considerably longer for spring migration (83 days) than autumn migration (42 days). This difference in duration was mainly determined by time spent at stopovers. Timing and space use during migration suggest that the birds were using different strategies in the two seasons: In spring they spread out in a wide front to acquire extra energy stores in many successive stopover sites (to fuel capital breeding), which is in accordance with previous results that white-fronted geese follow the green wave of spring growth. In autumn they filled up their stores close to the breeding grounds and waited for supportive wind conditions to quickly move to their wintering grounds. Selection for supportive winds was stronger in autumn, when general wind conditions were less favourable than in spring, leading to similar flight speeds in the two seasons. In combination with less stopover time in autumn this led to faster autumn than spring migration. White-fronted geese thus differ from theory that spring migration is faster than autumn migration. We expect our findings of different decision rules between the two migratory seasons to apply more generally, in particular in large birds in which capital breeding is common, and in birds that meet other environmental conditions along their migration route in autumn than in spring. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Wageningen UR (University & Research Centre): Digital Library Arctic Oikos 125 10 1496 1507 |
institution |
Open Polar |
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Wageningen UR (University & Research Centre): Digital Library |
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ftunivwagenin |
language |
English |
topic |
Life Science |
spellingShingle |
Life Science Kölzsch, Andrea Muskens, Gerard Kruckenberg, Helmut Glazov, Peter Weinzierl, Rolf Nolet, Bart A. Wikelski, Martin Towards a new understanding of migration timing : Slower spring than autumn migration in geese reflects different decision rules for stopover use and departure |
topic_facet |
Life Science |
description |
According to migration theory and several empirical studies, long-distance migrants are more time-limited during spring migration and should therefore migrate faster in spring than in autumn. Competition for the best breeding sites is supposed to be the main driver, but timing of migration is often also influenced by environmental factors such as food availability and wind conditions. Using GPS tags, we tracked 65 greater white-fronted geese Anser albifrons migrating between western Europe and the Russian Arctic during spring and autumn migration over six different years. Contrary to theory, our birds took considerably longer for spring migration (83 days) than autumn migration (42 days). This difference in duration was mainly determined by time spent at stopovers. Timing and space use during migration suggest that the birds were using different strategies in the two seasons: In spring they spread out in a wide front to acquire extra energy stores in many successive stopover sites (to fuel capital breeding), which is in accordance with previous results that white-fronted geese follow the green wave of spring growth. In autumn they filled up their stores close to the breeding grounds and waited for supportive wind conditions to quickly move to their wintering grounds. Selection for supportive winds was stronger in autumn, when general wind conditions were less favourable than in spring, leading to similar flight speeds in the two seasons. In combination with less stopover time in autumn this led to faster autumn than spring migration. White-fronted geese thus differ from theory that spring migration is faster than autumn migration. We expect our findings of different decision rules between the two migratory seasons to apply more generally, in particular in large birds in which capital breeding is common, and in birds that meet other environmental conditions along their migration route in autumn than in spring. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Kölzsch, Andrea Muskens, Gerard Kruckenberg, Helmut Glazov, Peter Weinzierl, Rolf Nolet, Bart A. Wikelski, Martin |
author_facet |
Kölzsch, Andrea Muskens, Gerard Kruckenberg, Helmut Glazov, Peter Weinzierl, Rolf Nolet, Bart A. Wikelski, Martin |
author_sort |
Kölzsch, Andrea |
title |
Towards a new understanding of migration timing : Slower spring than autumn migration in geese reflects different decision rules for stopover use and departure |
title_short |
Towards a new understanding of migration timing : Slower spring than autumn migration in geese reflects different decision rules for stopover use and departure |
title_full |
Towards a new understanding of migration timing : Slower spring than autumn migration in geese reflects different decision rules for stopover use and departure |
title_fullStr |
Towards a new understanding of migration timing : Slower spring than autumn migration in geese reflects different decision rules for stopover use and departure |
title_full_unstemmed |
Towards a new understanding of migration timing : Slower spring than autumn migration in geese reflects different decision rules for stopover use and departure |
title_sort |
towards a new understanding of migration timing : slower spring than autumn migration in geese reflects different decision rules for stopover use and departure |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
https://research.wur.nl/en/publications/towards-a-new-understanding-of-migration-timing-slower-spring-tha https://doi.org/10.1111/oik.03121 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic |
genre_facet |
Arctic |
op_source |
Oikos 125 (2016) 10 ISSN: 0030-1299 |
op_relation |
https://edepot.wur.nl/375753 https://research.wur.nl/en/publications/towards-a-new-understanding-of-migration-timing-slower-spring-tha doi:10.1111/oik.03121 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess Wageningen University & Research |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1111/oik.03121 |
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Oikos |
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125 |
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