Hypotheses and tracking results about the longest migration: The case of the arctic tern
Abstract The arctic tern Sterna paradisaea completes the longest known annual return migration on Earth, traveling between breeding sites in the northern arctic and temperate regions and survival/molt areas in the Antarctic pack‐ice zone. Salomonsen (1967, Biologiske Meddelelser, Copenhagen Danske V...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2019-09-01
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| Series: | Ecology and Evolution |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.5459 |
| _version_ | 1818725357981794304 |
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| author | Thomas Alerstam Johan Bäckman Johanna Grönroos Patrik Olofsson Roine Strandberg |
| author_facet | Thomas Alerstam Johan Bäckman Johanna Grönroos Patrik Olofsson Roine Strandberg |
| author_sort | Thomas Alerstam |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract The arctic tern Sterna paradisaea completes the longest known annual return migration on Earth, traveling between breeding sites in the northern arctic and temperate regions and survival/molt areas in the Antarctic pack‐ice zone. Salomonsen (1967, Biologiske Meddelelser, Copenhagen Danske Videnskabernes Selskab, 24, 1) put forward a hypothetical comprehensive interpretation of this global migration pattern, suggesting food distribution, wind patterns, sea ice distribution, and molt habits as key ecological and evolutionary determinants. We used light‐level geolocators to record 12 annual journeys by eight individuals of arctic terns breeding in the Baltic Sea. Migration cycles were evaluated in light of Salomonsen's hypotheses and compared with results from geolocator studies of arctic tern populations from Greenland, Netherlands, and Alaska. The Baltic terns completed a 50,000 km annual migration circuit, exploiting ocean regions of high productivity in the North Atlantic, Benguela Current, and the Indian Ocean between southern Africa and Australia (sometimes including the Tasman Sea). They arrived about 1 November in the Antarctic zone at far easterly longitudes (in one case even at the Ross Sea) subsequently moving westward across 120–220 degrees of longitude toward the Weddell Sea region. They departed from here in mid‐March on a fast spring migration up the Atlantic Ocean. The geolocator data revealed unexpected segregation in time and space between tern populations in the same flyway. Terns from the Baltic and Netherlands traveled earlier and to significantly more easterly longitudes in the Indian Ocean and Antarctic zone than terns from Greenland. We suggest an adaptive explanation for this pattern. The global migration system of the arctic tern offers an extraordinary possibility to understand adaptive values and constraints in complex pelagic life cycles, as determined by environmental conditions (marine productivity, wind patterns, low‐pressure trajectories, pack‐ice distribution), inherent factors (flight performance, molt, flocking), and effects of predation/piracy and competition. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-17T21:41:02Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-d61073e828cd428facec52aa93557036 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2045-7758 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-17T21:41:02Z |
| publishDate | 2019-09-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Ecology and Evolution |
| spelling | doaj.art-d61073e828cd428facec52aa935570362022-12-21T21:31:37ZengWileyEcology and Evolution2045-77582019-09-019179511953110.1002/ece3.5459Hypotheses and tracking results about the longest migration: The case of the arctic ternThomas Alerstam0Johan Bäckman1Johanna Grönroos2Patrik Olofsson3Roine Strandberg4Department of Biology Lund University Lund SwedenDepartment of Biology Lund University Lund SwedenFaculty of Natural Sciences Kristianstad University Kristianstad SwedenHeberg, SwedenDepartment of Biology Lund University Lund SwedenAbstract The arctic tern Sterna paradisaea completes the longest known annual return migration on Earth, traveling between breeding sites in the northern arctic and temperate regions and survival/molt areas in the Antarctic pack‐ice zone. Salomonsen (1967, Biologiske Meddelelser, Copenhagen Danske Videnskabernes Selskab, 24, 1) put forward a hypothetical comprehensive interpretation of this global migration pattern, suggesting food distribution, wind patterns, sea ice distribution, and molt habits as key ecological and evolutionary determinants. We used light‐level geolocators to record 12 annual journeys by eight individuals of arctic terns breeding in the Baltic Sea. Migration cycles were evaluated in light of Salomonsen's hypotheses and compared with results from geolocator studies of arctic tern populations from Greenland, Netherlands, and Alaska. The Baltic terns completed a 50,000 km annual migration circuit, exploiting ocean regions of high productivity in the North Atlantic, Benguela Current, and the Indian Ocean between southern Africa and Australia (sometimes including the Tasman Sea). They arrived about 1 November in the Antarctic zone at far easterly longitudes (in one case even at the Ross Sea) subsequently moving westward across 120–220 degrees of longitude toward the Weddell Sea region. They departed from here in mid‐March on a fast spring migration up the Atlantic Ocean. The geolocator data revealed unexpected segregation in time and space between tern populations in the same flyway. Terns from the Baltic and Netherlands traveled earlier and to significantly more easterly longitudes in the Indian Ocean and Antarctic zone than terns from Greenland. We suggest an adaptive explanation for this pattern. The global migration system of the arctic tern offers an extraordinary possibility to understand adaptive values and constraints in complex pelagic life cycles, as determined by environmental conditions (marine productivity, wind patterns, low‐pressure trajectories, pack‐ice distribution), inherent factors (flight performance, molt, flocking), and effects of predation/piracy and competition.https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.5459Antarcticaarctic ternbird migrationglobal migrationpopulation segregation |
| spellingShingle | Thomas Alerstam Johan Bäckman Johanna Grönroos Patrik Olofsson Roine Strandberg Hypotheses and tracking results about the longest migration: The case of the arctic tern Ecology and Evolution Antarctica arctic tern bird migration global migration population segregation |
| title | Hypotheses and tracking results about the longest migration: The case of the arctic tern |
| title_full | Hypotheses and tracking results about the longest migration: The case of the arctic tern |
| title_fullStr | Hypotheses and tracking results about the longest migration: The case of the arctic tern |
| title_full_unstemmed | Hypotheses and tracking results about the longest migration: The case of the arctic tern |
| title_short | Hypotheses and tracking results about the longest migration: The case of the arctic tern |
| title_sort | hypotheses and tracking results about the longest migration the case of the arctic tern |
| topic | Antarctica arctic tern bird migration global migration population segregation |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.5459 |
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