Memory, not just perception, plays an important role in terrestrial mammalian migration
Memory, not just perception, plays an important role in terrestrial mammalian migration
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DOI：
10.1098/rspb.2017.0449
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发表时间：
2017-05-31
影响因子：
4.7
通讯作者：
Mueller, Thomas
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Bracis, Chloe;Mueller, Thomas
关于哺乳动物陆地迁徙的潜在机制的关键问题之一是动物如何选择去哪里。大多数研究认为，对资源的感知是导航机制。记忆的可能作用是允许根据前几年的环境条件信息预测遥远地点和时间的条件，但很少有人研究。我们使用基于个体的模拟模型来研究博茨瓦纳的斑马迁徙，其中感知引导的个体在不同的感知范围使用当前感知的资源，而记忆引导的个体使用过去资源的长期平均值来预测未来的情况。我们将感知或记忆引导的模拟个体在遥感植被数据的资源景观上与GPS标记的斑马的轨迹进行比较。我们的结果表明，记忆提供了一个清晰的信号，与即使在最大的感知范围内的感知相比，记忆也能最好地将移民引导到他们的目的地。用记忆建模的斑马比用感知建模的斑马到达目的地更近两到四次，或者说最多100公里。我们认为，除了感知之外，记忆对于指导有蹄类动物的迁徙也很重要。此外，我们的发现对迁徙哺乳动物的保护很重要，因为记忆指示方向表明迁徙路线可能相对固定。
One of the key questions regarding the underlying mechanisms of mammalian land migrations is how animals select where to go. Most studies assume perception of resources as the navigational mechanism. The possible role of memory that would allow forecasting conditions at distant locations and times based on information about environmental conditions from previous years has been little studied. We study migrating zebra in Botswana using an individual-based simulation model, where perceptually guided individuals use currently sensed resources at different perceptual ranges, while memory guided individuals use long-term averages of past resources to forecast future conditions. We compare simulated individuals guided by perception or memory on resource landscapes of remotely sensed vegetation data to trajectories of GPS-tagged zebras. Our results show that memory provides a clear signal that best directs migrants to their destination compared to perception at even the largest perceptual ranges. Zebras modelled with memory arrived two to four times, or up to 100 km, closer to the migration destination than those using perception. We suggest that memory in addition to perception is important for directing ungulate migration. Furthermore, our findings are important for the conservation of migratory mammals, as memory informing direction suggests migration routes could be relatively inflexible.