Evolution of mammalian migrations for refuge, breeding, and food.

ABSTRACT: Many organisms migrate between distinct habitats, exploiting variable resources while profoundly affecting ecosystem services, disease spread, and human welfare. However, the very characteristics that make migration captivating and significant also make it difficult to study, and we lack a comprehensive understanding of which species migrate and why. Here we show that, among mammals, migration is concentrated within Cetacea and Artiodactyla but also diffusely spread throughout the class (found in 12 of 27 orders). We synthesize the many ecological drivers of round-trip migration into three types of movement-between breeding and foraging sites, between breeding and refuge sites, and continuous tracking of forage/prey-each associated with different traits (body mass, diet, locomotion, and co

SUBMITTER: Gnanadesikan GE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5551087 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature