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Research Article
Lina Lopez-Ricaurte
Estación Biológica de Doñana
Corresponding Author
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Understanding what factors drive variation in movement patterns is a key challenge in current migration research. Environmental drivers such as landscape heterogeneity and weather strongly affect birds’ migration influencing daily travel schedules and flight speed. For strictly thermal-soaring migrants, typically large birds, weather explains most seasonal and regional differences in speed. In contrast, smaller-sized flight generalists, which alternate between soaring and flapping flight, may be less dependent on weather and thus more likely to be strongly influenced by landscape in daily travel schedules and internal drivers, such as sex. We GPS-tracked the migration performance of 70 lesser kestrels (Falco naumanni), to estimate the relative importance of environmental (wind and landscape), internal (e.g. sex) and seasonal drivers and to what extend do they explain variation in migratory performance, namely speed, distance, and travelling time. We found that tailwind strength explained most of the seasonal difference in migratory parameters. In both seasons lesser kestrels sprinted across ecological barriers and frequently extended migration into the night, while travelling at a slower pace and mainly during the day when not flying over barriers. Our results highlighted that environmental factors far outweighed internal and other seasonal drivers in explaining variation in migration performance of a flight generalist, despite the ability to switch between flight-modes.
Keywords
movement patterns, migration research, landscape heterogeneity
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Peer Review Timeline
CURRENT STATUS: Under Review
Version 1
Posted 28 Dec, 2020
No community comments so far
Editorial decision: Major revision
On 25 Jan, 2021
Reviews received
Received 12 Jan, 2021
Reviewers agreed
On 05 Jan, 2021
Reviewers agreed
On 29 Dec, 2020
Reviewers invited
Invitations sent on 28 Dec, 2020
Editor assigned
On 28 Dec, 2020
Editor invited
On 22 Dec, 2020
Submission checks complete
On 22 Dec, 2020
First submitted
On 16 Dec, 2020
Metrics
Comments: 0
PDF Downloads: ...
HTML Views: ...
Subject Areas
Behavioral Ecology
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A new preprint design is coming!
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This preprint is under consideration at Scientific Reports. A preprint is a preliminary version of a manuscript that has not completed peer review at a journal. Research Square does not conduct peer review prior to posting preprints. The posting of a preprint on this server should not be interpreted as an endorsement of its validity or suitability for dissemination as established information or for guiding clinical practice.
Learn more about In Review
Research Article
Lina Lopez-Ricaurte
Estación Biológica de Doñana
Corresponding Author
Badges
Prescreen
This manuscript passed our Prescreen assessment
Complete author information
Appropriate declaration statements
Potential risks to human health
Prescreen
Peer Review Timeline
CURRENT STATUS: Under Review
Version 1
Posted 28 Dec, 2020
No community comments so far
Editorial decision: Major revision
On 25 Jan, 2021
Reviews received
Received 12 Jan, 2021
Reviewers agreed
On 05 Jan, 2021
Reviewers agreed
On 29 Dec, 2020
Reviewers invited
Invitations sent on 28 Dec, 2020
Editor assigned
On 28 Dec, 2020
Editor invited
On 22 Dec, 2020
Submission checks complete
On 22 Dec, 2020
First submitted
On 16 Dec, 2020
Metrics
Comments: 0
PDF Downloads: ...
HTML Views: ...
Subject Areas
Behavioral Ecology
License:
This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License. Read Full License
Understanding what factors drive variation in movement patterns is a key challenge in current migration research. Environmental drivers such as landscape heterogeneity and weather strongly affect birds’ migration influencing daily travel schedules and flight speed. For strictly thermal-soaring migrants, typically large birds, weather explains most seasonal and regional differences in speed. In contrast, smaller-sized flight generalists, which alternate between soaring and flapping flight, may be less dependent on weather and thus more likely to be strongly influenced by landscape in daily travel schedules and internal drivers, such as sex. We GPS-tracked the migration performance of 70 lesser kestrels (Falco naumanni), to estimate the relative importance of environmental (wind and landscape), internal (e.g. sex) and seasonal drivers and to what extend do they explain variation in migratory performance, namely speed, distance, and travelling time. We found that tailwind strength explained most of the seasonal difference in migratory parameters. In both seasons lesser kestrels sprinted across ecological barriers and frequently extended migration into the night, while travelling at a slower pace and mainly during the day when not flying over barriers. Our results highlighted that environmental factors far outweighed internal and other seasonal drivers in explaining variation in migration performance of a flight generalist, despite the ability to switch between flight-modes.
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
Figure 4
This is a list of supplementary files associated with this preprint. Click to download.
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