Aikens Ellen O, Kauffman Matthew J, Merkle Jerod A, Dwinnell Samantha P H, Fralick Gary L, Monteith Kevin L
Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, 82071, USA.
Program in Ecology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, 82071, USA.
Ecol Lett. 2017 Jun;20(6):741-750. doi: 10.1111/ele.12772. Epub 2017 Apr 25.
The Green Wave Hypothesis posits that herbivore migration manifests in response to waves of spring green-up (i.e. green-wave surfing). Nonetheless, empirical support for the Green Wave Hypothesis is mixed, and a framework for understanding variation in surfing is lacking. In a population of migratory mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus), 31% surfed plant phenology in spring as well as a theoretically perfect surfer, and 98% surfed better than random. Green-wave surfing varied among individuals and was unrelated to age or energetic state. Instead, the greenscape, which we define as the order, rate and duration of green-up along migratory routes, was the primary factor influencing surfing. Our results indicate that migratory routes are more than a link between seasonal ranges, and they provide an important, but often overlooked, foraging habitat. In addition, the spatiotemporal configuration of forage resources that propagate along migratory routes shape animal movement and presumably, energy gains during migration.
绿波假说认为，食草动物的迁徙表现为对春季植被返青浪潮的响应（即绿波冲浪）。尽管如此，绿波假说的实证支持并不一致，而且缺乏一个理解冲浪行为变化的框架。在一群迁徙的骡鹿（Odocoileus hemionus）中，31%的个体在春季像理论上完美的冲浪者一样追随着植物物候变化，98%的个体冲浪表现优于随机水平。绿波冲浪在个体间存在差异，且与年龄或能量状态无关。相反，我们定义为沿迁徙路线植被返青的顺序、速率和持续时间的绿色景观，是影响冲浪行为的主要因素。我们的结果表明，迁徙路线不仅仅是季节性活动范围之间的连接，它们还提供了一个重要但常被忽视的觅食栖息地。此外，沿迁徙路线传播的觅食资源的时空配置塑造了动物的移动，并且大概也影响了迁徙过程中的能量获取。
