Environmental drivers of variability in the movement ecology of turkey vultures (Cathartes aura) in North and South America.
Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci
; 369(1643): 20130195, 2014.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-24733950
ABSTRACT
Variation is key to the adaptability of species and their ability to survive changes to the Earth's climate and habitats. Plasticity in movement strategies allows a species to better track spatial dynamics of habitat quality. We describe the mechanisms that shape the movement of a long-distance migrant bird (turkey vulture, Cathartes aura) across two continents using satellite tracking coupled with remote-sensing science. Using nearly 10 years of data from 24 satellite-tracked vultures in four distinct populations, we describe an enormous amount of variation in their movement patterns. We related vulture movement to environmental conditions and found important correlations explaining how far they need to move to find food (indexed by the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) and how fast they can move based on the prevalence of thermals and temperature. We conclude that the extensive variability in the movement ecology of turkey vultures, facilitated by their energetically efficient thermal soaring, suggests that this species is likely to do well across periods of modest climate change. The large scale and sample sizes needed for such analysis in a widespread migrant emphasizes the need for integrated and collaborative efforts to obtain tracking data and for policies, tools and open datasets to encourage such collaborations and data sharing.
Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Aves
/
Adaptación Fisiológica
/
Ecosistema
/
Migración Animal
Tipo de estudio:
Risk_factors_studies
Límite:
Animals
País/Región como asunto:
America do norte
/
America do sul
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci
Año:
2014
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Estados Unidos