Migration (ecology)
Migration, in ecology, is the large-scale movement of members of a species to a different environment. Migration is a natural behavior and component of the life cycle of many species of mobile organisms, not limited to animals, though animal migration is the best known type. Migration is often cyclical, frequently occurring on a seasonal basis, and in some cases on a daily basis.[1] Species migrate to take advantage of more favorable conditions with respect to food availability, safety from predation, mating opportunity, or other environmental factors.[2][3]
Migration is most commonly seen as animal migration, the physical movement by animals from one area to another. That includes bird, fish, and insect migration. However, plants can be said to migrate, as seed dispersal enables plants to grow in new areas, under environmental constraints such as temperature and rainfall, resulting in changes such as forest migration.
Mechanisms
While members of some species learn a migratory route on their first journey with older members of their group, other species genetically pass on information regarding their migratory paths.
Factors
The factors that determine migration methods are variable due to the inconsistency of major seasonal changes and events. When an organism migrates from one location to another, its energy use and rate of migration are directly related to each other and to the safety of the organism. If an ecological barrier presents itself along a migrant's route, the migrant can either choose to use its energy to cross the barrier directly or use it to move around the barrier. If an organism is migrating to a place where there is high competition for food or habitat, its rate of migration should be higher. This indirectly helps determine an organism's fitness by increasing the likelihood of its survival and reproductive success.[4]: 38–41
Taxonomic distribution
In animals
Animal migration is the relatively long-distance movement of individual
In plants
Plants can be said to migrate, as seed dispersal enables plants to grow in new areas, under environmental constraints such as temperature and rainfall. When those constraints change, the border of a plant species's distribution may move, so the plant may be said to migrate, as for example in forest migration.[18]
Effects
A species migrating to a new community can affect the outcome of local competitive interactions. A species that migrates to a new community can cause a
See also
- Great American Interchange, an event in which fauna migrated between North America and South America once the continents were bridged by the Isthmus of Panama
- Human migration, physical movement by humans from one area to another
References
- S2CID 196608896.
- Wrexham Glyndŵr University.
- Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 7 December 2017.
- ^ )
- ^ a b c Kennedy, J. S. (1985). "Migration: Behavioral and ecological". In Rankin, M. (ed.). Migration: Mechanisms and Adaptive Significance: Contributions in Marine Science. Marine Science Institute. pp. 5–26.
- S2CID 744140.
- PMID 31654045.
- ^ Harden Jones, F. R. Fish Migration: strategy and tactics. pp139–166 in Aidley, 1981.
- JSTOR 1438482.
- ISBN 978-3-540-26603-7.
- .
- ^ "Red Crabs". Parks Australia. 2013. Archived from the original on 3 July 2014. Retrieved 19 June 2014.
- S2CID 28150487.
- ^ Baldridge, Elizabeth (27 August 2020). "Migration vs. Immigration: Understanding the Nuances". The Word Point. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
- ISSN 1022-0119.
- ^ "What is animal tracking?". Movebank (database of animal tracking data). Archived from the original on 21 April 2014. Retrieved 19 June 2014.
- ^ "Medieval Bestiary – Barnacle Goose". Archived from the original on 25 November 2016.
- ^ Sauer, Jonathan D. (1988). "Plant Migration: The Dynamics of Geographic Patterning in Seed Plant Species". Berkeley: University of California Press. p. 2.