Mortality in migratory birds - where and when?

Marsh harrier with satellite tag. Photo: Roine Strandberg

A new study on raptor migration, published in the January issue of Journal of Animal Ecology, reveals direct evidence about when and where migrants die. 
By identifying cases of confirmed and probable deaths in three species of long-distance migratory raptors tracked by satellite telemetry, the authors (Raymond Klaassen et al) showed that mortality rate was about six times higher during migration season than during stationary periods. They also found that spring mortality occurred mainly in Africa, while most mortality during autumn took place in Europe.

Mid-term evaluation

This week the Swedish Research Council is visiting all Linneaus centres who received grants in 2008, and today CAnMove is on their agenda.  The mid-term evaluation is performed by international expert panels and focuses on the scientific quality, added value and the dynamics created by the programme. The Natural Science panel evaluating CAnMove consists of:


Prof. Helmuth Möhwald (Chair), Max Planck Inst. of Colloids and Interfaces, De
Prof. John M. Fryxell, University of Guelph, Canada
Prof. Candace Galen, University of Missouri, US
Prof. Kathy A. Hibbard, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, US
Prof. Jeffrey A. Hutchings, Life Science Centre Dalhousie, University Halifax, Ca
Prof. Stig Slördahl, General Expert Panel

The panel has already recieved the quite extensive programme report that was put together before summer, which together with today’s interviews and presentations will serve as a basis for their evaluation. Based on this, the panel may recommend changes of economic support to the centre for the remaining 5-year-period.
Today CAnMove is represented by a wide range of different CAnMove members  - both topic-wise and role-wise, and we wish them all good luck!


//Helena

An ongoing sexual conflict over wing length in birds

Males and females can have different adaptive optima. However, since they share the majority of genes, they are constrained from evolving sexual dimorphism, which causes a genetic sexual conflict. This conflict has been poorly investigated in wild populations. In a recent study, we – i.e. a team of CAnMove researchers – present novel evidences for a sexual conflict over wing length, a key trait for flight performance and migration, in the great reed warbler Acrocephalus arundinaceus. We have monitored this study population since the mid-80s and have information on phenotypes, reproductive success and relatedness between individuals in multiple generations. We found that wing length was controlled by the same genes in males and females, but that selection on this trait was acting in opposite directions in the sexes: long wings were favoured in males, short wings in females. We further confirmed the sexual conflict in that females that inherited alleles for long wings from their fathers suffered a fitness cost. This comprehensive study of a wild songbird population adds unique insight into how un-intuitive patterns of evolution may be explained. It also highlights the importance of taking genetic sexual conflicts into account when trying to understand how traits evolve.

You can read more about the study here: http://www.amnat.org/an/newpapers/JanTarka.html

Reference: Tarka et al. (2014) The American Naturalist 183: 62-73. DOI: 10.1086/674072

http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/674072

Photo: August Thomasson

The CAnMove book now submitted to OUP

 

 

Our joint book on "Animal Movement Across Scales" has now safely landed at the ftp server of Oxford University Press (OUP) more than 3 days before deadline! The work with the book has indeed been an interesting journey and I would like to thank all authors for hard work. The manuscript text is 333 pages (single spaced) and we have 71 figures, so it will be quite a volume to carry home from the library or the book store. We can expect the book to reach these places in about 8 months, i.e. late summer or in the beginning of fall 2014. Before that, OUP will layout figures and text and we can expect to receive proofs of each chapter in early spring. So, one of CAnMove’s main aims and deliverables, beside great research that you all do, is now safely reached. /L-A