Conservation Ecology Group, Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, PO Box 11103, 9700 CC Groningen, The Netherlands
Conservation Ecology Group, Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, PO Box 11103, 9700 CC Groningen, The Netherlands.
Biol Lett. 2018 Feb;14(2). doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2017.0663.
In response to environmental change, species have been observed altering their migratory behaviours. Few studies, however, have been able to determine whether these alterations resulted from inherited, plastic or flexible changes. Here, we present a unique observation of a rapid population-level shift in migratory routes-over 300 km from Spain to Portugal-by continental black-tailed godwits This shift did not result from adult godwits changing staging sites, as adult site use was highly consistent. Rather, the shift resulted from young godwits predominantly using Portugal over Spain. We found no differences in reproductive success or survival among individuals using either staging site, indicating that the shift resulted from developmental plasticity rather than natural selection. Our results therefore suggest that new migratory routes can develop within a generation and that young individuals may be the agents of such rapid changes.
为了应对环境变化，人们观察到一些物种改变了它们的迁徙行为。然而，很少有研究能够确定这些变化是遗传的、塑性的还是灵活的。在这里，我们提出了一个独特的观察结果，即在西班牙和葡萄牙之间超过 300 公里的范围内，黑尾滨鹬的迁徙路线发生了快速的种群水平变化。这种变化不是由于成年滨鹬改变了停歇地，因为成年停歇地的使用高度一致。相反，这种变化是由于幼鸟主要在葡萄牙而不是西班牙使用。我们发现，使用任何一个停歇地的个体在繁殖成功率或存活率方面都没有差异，这表明这种变化是由发育可塑性而不是自然选择引起的。因此，我们的研究结果表明，新的迁徙路线可以在一代人的时间内形成，而年轻个体可能是这种快速变化的推动者。
