Could migration flexibility buffer the effects of environmental change?
- Yang Wu,
- Weipan Lei,
- Jili He,
- Ziqiang Zhu,
- Yu Liu,
- Jin Liu,
- De Chen,
- Tatsuya Amano,
- Zhijun Ma,
- Zhengwang Zhang,
- Richard Fuller
Yu Liu
Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences
Author ProfileDe Chen
Beijing Normal University College of Life Sciences
Author ProfileAbstract
Migratory species are acutely vulnerable to habitat loss, especially for
migratory birds that rely on multiple stopover sites during migration.
Typically, migratory birds show less exploratory behavior as they age,
i.e., their migration routes typically become more fixed, which leads to
higher vulnerability to habitat change. Indeed, due to habitat loss and
land use changes in the East Asian-Australasian Flyway, most waterbird
populations have rapidly declined, but there are some notable
exceptions. We hypothesized that species with stable or growing
population may be those able to maintain migration behavioral
flexibility into adulthood, enabling them to cope better with
environmental change. To test this hypothesis, we used satellite
tracking technology to monitor the movement behaviors of Pied Avocets
Recurvirostra avosetta, an increasing species highly adapted to
artificial wetlands in the East Asian-Australasian Flyway. We compared
the migration behaviors of 48 adult and 20 juvenile Pied Avocets in
eastern China. In the first two years of life, Pied Avocets performed
relatively limited movements. In contrast, some adults migrated to much
more southerly wintering grounds or more northerly breeding sites, and
occasionally pioneered entirely new flight paths. Additionally, adult
birds showed greater variability in their movements during the
non-migration period, indicating that older individuals retain
behavioral flexibility, likely in response to environmental changes.
This suggests that flexible migration strategies in adult animals may
enhance resilience to habitat alterations and might help predict which
species will be especially vulnerable to environmental change.