Detection of flow direction in high-flying insect and songbird migrants

Current Biology : CB
Jason W ChapmanAndy M Reynolds

Abstract

Goal-oriented migrants travelling through the sea or air must cope with the effect of cross-flows during their journeys if they are to reach their destination. In order to counteract flow-induced drift from their preferred course, migrants must detect the mean flow direction, and integrate this information with output from their internal compass, to compensate for the deflection. Animals can potentially sense flow direction by two nonexclusive mechanisms: either indirectly, by visually assessing the effect of the current on their movement direction relative to the ground; or directly, via intrinsic properties of the current. Here, we report the first evidence that nocturnal compass-guided insect migrants use a turbulence-mediated mechanism for directly assessing the wind direction hundreds of metres above the ground. By comparison, we find that nocturnally-migrating songbirds do not use turbulence to detect the flow; instead they rely on visual assessment of wind-induced drift to indirectly infer the flow direction.

References

May 10, 2005·Science·Amatzia GeninPeter J S Franks
Oct 29, 2011·Current Biology : CB·Jason W ChapmanThomas Alerstam
Jul 25, 2014·Journal of the Royal Society, Interface·James D McLarenWillem Bouten

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Citations

Mar 15, 2016·Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience·Gao HuJason W Chapman
May 6, 2016·Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience·Eric WarrantStanley Heinze
Nov 6, 2015·Journal of the Royal Society, Interface·Kevin J Painter, Thomas Hillen
Dec 23, 2016·Science·Gao HuJason W Chapman
Feb 18, 2016·Scientific Reports·Kyle G HortonJeffrey F Kelly
May 14, 2017·Journal of Comparative Physiology. A, Neuroethology, Sensory, Neural, and Behavioral Physiology·Susanne Åkesson, Giuseppe Bianco
Aug 17, 2016·Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences·Andy M ReynoldsJason W Chapman
Aug 17, 2016·Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences·Anders Hedenström, Susanne Åkesson
Apr 8, 2016·Physiology·Eric Warrant, Marie Dacke

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