History of techniques used to study animal migration
Answers
Animal migration has fascinated humans for millennia. And for good reason: Some of the most astonishing feats of endurance are performed by long-distance migrants, such as the nine-day non-stop flight of the bar-tailed godwit across the Pacific Ocean.
What is Migration?
Most people think of migration as the seasonal movement of a flock of birds between their breeding and non-breeding sites. In fact, bird migration is probably the biological phenomenon that has attracted the most interest among non-scientists, and has one of the longest traditions of scientific investigation in biology (Berthold 2001). However, there are many other forms of animal migration, including journeys between east and west, complex round-trips involving land and ocean, altitudinal journeys up and down mountains, and vertical movements through the water column of oceans and lakes (Hoare 2009). What sets migration apart from other forms of movements is that migration typically involves travelling from one type of habitat to another (Aidley 1981).
Who Migrates?
Migrating animals are found in all major branches of the animal kingdom. They include taxa as diverse as fish, crustaceans, amphibians, reptiles, insects, mammals and slime moulds (Bowlin et al. 2010). The distance covered during some of the journeys, and the altitude at which they can take place, are simply astonishing (Table 1). Let’s take a closer look at the migrations undertaken by a bird, an insect and a mammal.