Response of an Afro-Palearctic bird migrant to glaciation cycles.

ABSTRACT: Migration allows animals to exploit spatially separated and seasonally available resources at a continental to global scale. However, responding to global climatic changes might prove challenging, especially for long-distance intercontinental migrants. During glacial periods, when conditions became too harsh for breeding in the north, avian migrants have been hypothesized to retract their distribution to reside within small refugial areas. Here, we present data showing that an Afro-Palearctic migrant continued seasonal migration, largely within Africa, during previous glacial-interglacial cycles with no obvious impact on population size. Using individual migratory track data to hindcast monthly bioclimatic habitat availability maps through the last 120,000 y, we show altered seasonal use o

SUBMITTER: Thorup K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8719893 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature