Infrasound as a Cue for Seabird Navigation
2021
Patrick, Samantha C. | Assink, Jelle D. | Basille, Mathieu | Clusella-Trullas, Susana | Clay, Thomas A. | den Ouden, Olivier F. C. | Joo, Rocío | Zeyl, Jeffrey N. | Benhamou, Simon | Christensen-Dalsgaard, Jakob | Evers, Läslo G. | Fayet, Annette L. | Köppl, Christine | Malkemper, E. Pascal | Martín López, Lucía Martina | Padget, Oliver | Phillips, Richard A. | Prior, Mark K. | Smets, Pieter S. M. | van Loon, E. Emiel | School of Environmental Sciences [Liverpool] ; University of Liverpool | Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI) | University of Florida [Gainesville] (UF) | Stellenbosch University | Computer Engineering - Delft University of Technology (CE) ; Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) | Fort Lauderdale Research and Education Center | Centre d’Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive (CEFE) ; Université Paul-Valéry - Montpellier 3 (UPVM)-École Pratique des Hautes Études (EPHE) ; Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD [Occitanie])-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE)-Institut Agro - Montpellier SupAgro ; Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement (Institut Agro)-Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement (Institut Agro) | University of Southern Denmark (SDU) | Department of Zoology [Oxford] ; University of Oxford | Carl Von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg = Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg (OFFIS) | Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP) | British Antarctic Survey (BAS) ; Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) | Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) | Universiteit van Amsterdam = University of Amsterdam (UvA) | Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED) ; Universiteit van Amsterdam = University of Amsterdam (UvA) | This project was funded by a Human Frontiers Science Programme Young Investigator grant RGY0072/2017 to SP, JA, MB, and SC-T.
International audience
Show more [+] Less [-]English. Seabirds are amongst the most mobile of all animal species and spend large amounts of their lives at sea. They cross vast areas of ocean that appear superficially featureless, and our understanding of the mechanisms that they use for navigation remains incomplete, especially in terms of available cues. In particular, several large-scale navigational tasks, such as homing across thousands of kilometers to breeding sites, are not fully explained by visual, olfactory or magnetic stimuli. Low-frequency inaudible sound, i.e., infrasound, is ubiquitous in the marine environment. The spatio-temporal consistency of some components of the infrasonic wavefield, and the sensitivity of certain bird species to infrasonic stimuli, suggests that infrasound may provide additional cues for seabirds to navigate, but this remains untested. Here, we propose a framework to explore the importance of infrasound for navigation. We present key concepts regarding the physics of infrasound and review the physiological mechanisms through which infrasound may be detected and used. Next, we propose three hypotheses detailing how seabirds could use information provided by different infrasound sources for navigation as an acoustic beacon, landmark, or gradient. Finally, we reflect on strengths and limitations of our proposed hypotheses, and discuss several directions for future work. In particular, we suggest that hypotheses may be best tested by combining conceptual models of navigation with empirical data on seabird movements and in-situ infrasound measurements.
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