‘Fast and die when young’: Migratory animals are declining because they are unable to adapt to changing climates and habits due to rapidly changing lifestyles.
- Experts from the University of Exeter studied 1,296 species of’speed of life’.
- They looked at metrics including longevity and reproductive frequency.
- The team found that immigrants often grow faster, multiply earlier, and die younger.
- Flight immigrants are generally smaller than stagnant ones.
- However, moving animals that swim or walk are often larger.
Changing climates and habits pose a greater risk to migrating animals, especially those that fly. Because they are’fast, die young’ and have poor adaptability.
Exeter experts have studied nearly 1,300 species of mammals and birds. It has been found that migrating people generally grow faster, give birth earlier, and die younger.
This finding may help explain why many migrant species appear to be declining. For example, due to poor conditions for delayed breeding.
They can also help predict how migrating species will react to future environmental changes.
The team also noted that moving animals that swim or walk are generally larger than animals that do not move and settlers who fly are generally smaller.
Changing climates and habits pose a greater risk for migrating animals, especially flying animals. Because they are’fast and die young’ and have poor adaptability. In the photo, as the sun begins to set, a flock of fruit bats moves across the sky.
“Many species travel over long distances and require significant amounts of energy,” said Andrea Soriano-Redondo, author and conservation biologist at the University of Exeter.
‘Because this energy cannot be used for other purposes, such as self-maintenance or reproduction, we expect animals to adjust the amount of energy they use for these things,’ she added.
“By prioritizing reproduction over survival,” living fast, “species have the potential to increase their numbers faster. This can balance the long-term energy costs with the short-term risks of migration.”
In their study, Dr. Soriano-Redondo and colleagues examined 1,296 species of so-called’speed of life’. Indicators such as longevity, the age at which female individuals are sexually mature, and reproductive frequency were examined.
Stuart Bearhop, an animal ecologist and author of a paper at the University of Exeter, said,’I have long thought that migration is a dangerous behavior.
‘Animals often take a chance when migrating, hoping to find the right conditions at their destination,’ he added.
‘For birds migrating to the high Arctic, there are short windows that can arrive and breed in spring.’
‘Some people will only try this if the conditions are right. When habitats deteriorate due to climate change, this “fast-living” species can completely miss out on opportunities. “
‘I have long thought that migration is a dangerous behavior,’ said Stuart Bearhop, an animal ecologist at the University of Exeter. ‘Animals often take a chance when migrating, hoping to find the right conditions at their destination,’ he added. Drawing, moving goose
The paper author and ecologist Dave Hodgson said,’I think walking and swimming settlers are generally larger because only large animals can store enough energy and use them efficiently enough.
‘The opposite is true among flying species. This is because the greater the weight, the more energy it costs to fly.
The findings were published in the journal Nature Communications.
WHY DO Migratory Birds Fly on V-FORMATION?
The bird flies in a v-shape, helping to fly more efficiently and staying high while consuming as little energy as possible.
Scientists learned the secrets of flight of migratory birds after attaching small lumberjacks to a herd of 14 northern ibis that not only track position and speed with satellites, but also measure every wing of the wing.
The 14 birds used in this study were hand-raised at the Vienna Zoo, Austria by Waldrappteam, an Austrian conservation group that reintroduces northern bald Ives into Europe.
The bird flies in a V-shape, flying more efficiently, and stays high while consuming as little energy as possible (stock image).
These birds were studied while flying with micro lights on the route from Austria to their winter home in Tuscany, Italy.
Dr. Steve Portugal, lead researcher at the Royal Veterinary College at the University of London, said: ‘The peculiar V-formation of the flock has long attracted the attention of researchers and continues to attract scientific and public interest, but a clear explanation of aerodynamic effects is difficult to grasp until now.
The complex mechanisms involved in V-forming flight reveal the remarkable awareness and ability of birds to respond to the wing paths of nearby flock mates. Birds of V-formation seem to have developed a complex topological strategy to cope with the dynamic wakes created by flapping their wings. ‘
When flying in the V-shape, the winged wing of the bird was almost’status’, meaning that all the wing tips followed almost the same path.
This helped each bird catch an additional lift in the upwash in the front neighbor.
The occasional change of position within the strata meant that sometimes birds fly right behind each other.
When this happened, the birds changed their wing beats to an inverted phase pattern to prevent them from getting downwashed.
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