Symposium number: 32

Title: UNDERSTANDING THE CAUSES OF RECENT CHANGES IN MIGRATORY BEHAVIOUR

Principal organizer: Timothy Coppack
Institute of Avian Research "Vogelwarte Helgoland", Inselstation, PO Box 1220, 27494 Helgoland, Germany
email: coppack@vogelwarte-helgoland.de

Second organizer: Charles M. Francis
National Wildlife Research Centre, Canadian Wildlife Service, Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0H3, Canada

First keynote speaker: Charles M. Francis
National Wildlife Research Centre, Canadian Wildlife Service, Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0H3, Canada
Title of first keynote paper: Changes in the timing of spring migration in relation to climate: Phenotypic or genetic responses?

Second keynote speaker: Francisco Pulido
Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Vogelwarte Radolfzell, Schlossallee 2, 78315 Radolfzell, Germany
Title of second keynote paper: The mechanisms underlying recent phenotypic changes in the timing of bird migration

Contributed talks

Symposium description: Involved in bird migration are behavioural, morphological, and physiological adaptations that have co evolved to achieve successful reproduction and survival under given environmental circumstances in breeding and non-breeding areas and en route between. Climate change may alter these adaptations, both directly and indirectly through changes in the phenology of plants and invertebrate food resources. Inter-species variation, particularly between short- and long-distance migrants in directions and rates of migratory behaviour, has so far been attributed to differences in selection regimes and exposure to climatic variables, without taking into account potential genetic or physiological constraints. Nevertheless, such constraints on adaptability are to be expected, particularly for migratory traits that are correlated genetically with other life-cycle events.
This symposium will present an overview of recent shifts in the timing and extent of bird migration, and will elaborate a conceptual framework for understanding the mechanisms underlying the changes, both from behavioural and genetic perspectives. Its aim is to resolve apparently contradictory results and to stimulate ornithologists to make the step from reporting observations to drawing inferences about causes.

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