How far to go? Determinants of migration distance in land mammals

Teitelbaum, Claire S.; Fagan, William F.; Fleming, Chris H.; Dreßler, Gunnar; Calabrese, Justin M.; Leimgruber, Peter; Mueller, Thomas

doi:10.1111/ele.12435

Cited by 88 publications

(88 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…Our results indicated that pronghorn seasonal (i.e., spring and fall) migrations in the NSS are consistent with the FMH. We predicted that pronghorn in the NSS would undertake longer seasonal migrations compared to other areas inhabited by pronghorn, and we observed the longest migration of pronghorn reported to date in the literature, consistent with the FMH that populations at their northern range extent should display longer migrations to exploit greater spatiotemporal variability in forage (Hebblewhite et al , Peters , Teitelbaum et al ). In addition, 30 individuals made round‐trip migrations of ≥200 km, which exceed distances reported in previous pronghorn studies (Berger ).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 85%

“…Our objectives were to examine broad predictions of the FMH based on comparing movement metrics during different migratory behaviors of pronghorn. First, we predicted that pronghorn at their northern range would undertake longer seasonal migrations and have a higher proportion of migratory individuals compared to other areas across pronghorn range (Mueller et al , Teitelbaum et al ). Second, we predicted a greater proportion of stopover sites identified during spring compared to fall migration (Sawyer and Kauffman , Seidler et al ).…”

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Classifying the migration behaviors of pronghorn on their northern range

et al. 2018

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Migration functions as an adaptive strategy to improve fitness by allowing individuals to exploit spatiotemporal gradients of resources. Yet migration, especially among large ungulates, is increasingly threatened by human activities, making it necessary to understand variation in migratory behavior. We identified different movement strategies for pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) at the northern limit of the species’ range, and tested hypotheses for variation between migratory behaviors. From 2003–2010, we captured 185 female pronghorn across Alberta and Saskatchewan, Canada, and Montana, USA. We identified discrete migratory behaviors, including seasonal migration, facultative winter migration, potential post‐fawning migration, and the use of stopover sites. Fifty‐five percent of individuals undertook seasonal migrations, and we recorded the longest reported round‐trip migration for the species at 888 km. Some (22%) seasonal migrations included ≥1 stopover sites, with significantly greater use of stopovers during spring than fall. Migrants (34%) and residents (20%) undertook facultative winter migrations, with the majority (68%) undertaken by migrants. Additionally, 12% of individuals exhibited potential post‐fawning migrations. For each season, we estimated a suite of movement metrics and used multivariate statistics to compare movement similarities across migration behaviors. Correspondence analyses revealed 3 groupings of migration behavior. Spring migration was its own grouping, characterized by more sinuous and slower movements, consistent with the forage maturation hypothesis. Fall migration, facultative winter migration, and potential post‐fawning migration clustered in a single group that displayed linear, fast movements, consistent with being influenced by ecologically limited resources such as severe winters or predation avoidance. Lastly, spring and fall stopover sites were grouped together as a means to use high‐quality forage during migration, also consistent with the forage maturation hypothesis. At the northern periphery of pronghorn range, differences between migratory behaviors are influenced by various ecological factors, merit increased attention, and contribute to overall persistence. © 2018 The Wildlife Society.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 85%

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confidence: 99%

Classifying the migration behaviors of pronghorn on their northern range

et al. 2018

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“…), and more specifically migration distances (Teitelbaum et al. ) have also been suggested to be a function of the scale of landscape variability. Also in our study, migratory roe deer moved furthest in Norway, where broad‐scale landscape variability is much higher than in our alpine Italian study sites, which confirms that the correlation between geographic, and ED is a function of landscape heterogeneity.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Migration in geographic and ecological space by a large herbivore

Peters

Hebblewhite

Mysterud

et al. 2017

Ecological Monographs

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Partial migration, when only part of the population migrates seasonally while the other part remains resident on the shared range, is the most common form of migration in ungulates. Migration is often defined by spatial separation of seasonal ranges and consequently, classification of individuals as migrants or residents is usually only based on geographic criteria. However, the underlying mechanism for migration is hypothesized to be movement in response to spatiotemporal resource variability and thus, migrants are assumed to travel an “ecological distance” (ED) or shift their realized ecological niches. While ecological and geographic distances should be related, their relationship may depend on landscape heterogeneity. Here, we tested the utility of ecological niche theory to both classify migratory individuals and to understand the underlying ecological factors for migratory behavior. We developed an integrative approach combining measures in geographic and ecological niche space and used this to classify and explain migratory behavior of 71 annual roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) movement trajectories in five European study areas. First, to assess the utility of the ED concept for classifying migratory behavior, we tested whether roe deer sought the same ecological conditions year‐round or moved to different ecological conditions by measuring the annual ED travelled and the seasonal niche overlap using multivariate statistics. Comparing methods to classify migrants and residents based on geographic and ecological niche space, we found that migratory roe deer switched between seasons both in geographic and in ecological dimensions. Second, we tested which seasonal ecological factors separated resident from migrant niches using discriminant analysis and which broad‐scale determinants (e.g., spatiotemporal forage variation and population density) predicted migration probability using generalized linear models. Our results indicated that factors describing forage and topographic variability discriminated seasonal migrant from resident niches. Determinants for predicting migration probability included the temporal variation (seasonality) and also the spatial variability of forage patches. Last, we also found suggestive evidence for a positive relationship between population density and migration probability. By applying the ecological niche concept to the study of partial migration in ungulates, our work underlines that partial migration is a form of behavioral plasticity.

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“…Both historically and today, the Mongolian gazelle has had one of the longest migrations among terrestrial animals (Berger 2004;Teitelbaum et al 2015). Until the 1930s, this species had a distribution that occupied most of the grasslands in northern China, Mongolia, and southern Russia, but since then its distribution has been reduced to the eastern half of Mongolia and to areas close to the border between Mongolia, China, and Russia ( Fig.…”

Section: Railways and Vulnerable Wild Animals In Mongoliamentioning

confidence: 99%

Habitat Fragmentation by Railways as a Barrier to Great Migrations of Ungulates in Mongolia

et al. 2017

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Mongolia's Gobi-Steppe Ecosystem is the largest grassland in the world and the habitat of long-distance movement ungulates, such as the Mongolian gazelle (Procapra gutturosa) and the Asiatic wild ass (Equus hemionus). The international railway between Russia and China bisects this habitat, and there has been concern that it may impede the movements of wild ungulates. We tracked ungulate movements on both sides of the Ulaanbaatar-Beijing Railway, and found that most of the tracked animals never crossed the railway. The construction of additional railways to permit mining projects in the area is therefore a further threat to maintaining the great migrations of ungulates across Mongolia.

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How far to go? Determinants of migration distance in land mammals

Cited by 88 publications

References 42 publications

Classifying the migration behaviors of pronghorn on their northern range

Classifying the migration behaviors of pronghorn on their northern range

Migration in geographic and ecological space by a large herbivore

Habitat Fragmentation by Railways as a Barrier to Great Migrations of Ungulates in Mongolia

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