SFB 1372 – Nav02

Doctoral student

Annika Peter

Institute for Biology and Environmental Sciences  (» Postal address)

A01 3-335 (» Adress and map)

+49 441 798-4774  (F&P

SFB 1372 – Nav02

Assessing magnetoreception and orientation/navigation hypotheses in free flying birds

To achieve a comprehensive understanding of magnetoreception and vertebrate navigation, it is important that key behavioural results obtained in the laboratory are retested in the wild with freely-moving animals. Anthropogenic electromagnetic radiation (electrosmog hereafter) can disrupt the magnetic compass of night-migratory birds in the laboratory. Since electrosmog occurs nearly everywhere on the globe, it is a highly relevant, but yet unresolved, question of global ecological importance, whether electrosmog also interferes with bird migration in the wild. By radio-tracking the after-exposure effects of electrosmog on free-flying songbirds from 2019-2022, we demonstrated that electrosmog does not have direct biological consequences on bird migration. However, there is an urgent follow-up question emerging from our fundamental study: Does electrosmog affect the departure decisions of migratory free-flying birds when a further compass system (e.g. star compass) is not available? Such a context-dependent effect would significantly reduce migration speed, delay arrival timing at the migratory destination and hence, decrease reproduction success. This could be a contributing factor needed to explain the current decline in night-migratory songbirds.

Second, our previous findings suggest that neither Northern Wheatears nor European Robins rely on information obtained by a putative magnetic-particle-based mechanism for their migratory decisions. Therefore, we now do a virtual translocation experiment to force birds to use their geomagnetic map. Does a magnetic pulse affect the compensation ability of virtually translocated migratory birds? If we find no effect, this will warrant a re-thinking about the existence of a magnetic-particle-based mechanism in night-migratory birds.

You can find more information about the project here.

Publications

Karwinkel, T., Winklhofer, M., Allenstein, D., Brust, V., Christoph, P., Holland, R. A., Hüppop, O., Steen, J., Bairlein, F., Schmaljohann, H. (2024). A refined magnetic pulse treatment method for magnetic navigation experiments with adequate sham control: a case study on free-flying songbirds. Journal of the Royal Society Interface, 21(214), 20230745. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2023.0745

Karwinkel, T., Peter, A., Holland, R.  A., Thorup, K., Bairlein, F., & Schmaljohann, H. (2024). A  conceptual framework on the role of magnetic cues in songbird migration  ecology. Biological Reviews. https://doi.org/10.1111/brv.13082

Wynn, J., Leberecht, B., Liedvogel, M., Burnus, L., Chetverikova, R., Döge, S., ... & Mouritsen, H. (2023). Naive songbirds show seasonally appropriate spring orientation in the laboratory despite having never completed first migration. Biology Letters, 19(2), 20220478. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2022.0478

Karwinkel, T., Winklhofer, M., Janner, L. E., Brust, V., Hüppop, O., Bairlein, F., & Schmaljohann, H. (2022). A magnetic pulse does not affect free-flight navigation behaviour of a medium-distance songbird migrant in spring. Journal of Experimental Biology, 225(19), jeb244473. https://www.doi.org/10.1242/jeb.244473

Karwinkel, T., Winklhofer, M., Christoph, P., Allenstein, D., Hüppop, O., Brust, V., Bairlein, F., & Schmaljohann, H. (2022). No apparent effect of a magnetic pulse on free-flight behaviour in northern wheatears (Oenanthe oenanthe) at a stopover site. Journal of the Royal Society Interface, 19(187), 20210805. https://www.doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2021.0805

Leberecht, B., Kobylkov, D., Karwinkel, T., Döge, S., Burnus, L., Wong, S. Y., Apte, S., Haase, K., Musielak, I., Chetverrikova, R., Dautaj, G., Basetto, M., Winklhofer, M., Hore, P.J. & Mouritsen, H. (2022). Broadband 75–85 MHz radiofrequency fields disrupt magnetic compass orientation in night-migratory songbirds consistent with a flavin-based radical pair magnetoreceptor. Journal of Comparative Physiology A, 208(1), 97-106. https://www.doi.org/10.1007/s00359-021-01537-8

(Changed: 23 Jul 2024)  | 
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