Impact of Human Activity on Migratory Activity

Impact of Human activity on Migratory ActivityBird migration and the involve of human activity on migrant activityMigration is the movement made by animals between two separate locations on a regular cornerstone for the purpose of accessing resources provided by these incompatible sites (Alcock, 2013). 2Migration is a common process end-to-end the entire animal kingdom. For poser, at that place is the migration of the Monarch butterfly3 crosswise north America (Brown and Chippendale, 1974), the Atlantic salmons journey from river to ocean (Hansen, 1993), the marine turtles epic movement from eating ground to genteelness ground (Morreale et al., 1996) and finally there is our own species4 migration across bailiwick and international borders. The focus of this discussion5 however is the migration of Birds approximately specifically looking at how, why and when they reincarnate and linealion on what exactly our impact as humans has on this very important phenomenon in the life cycle of many hoot species. delimit how migration prime(prenominal) occurred involves looking back over the history of migratory species and finding an evolutionary origin to the migratory lifestyle. In actual fact migration has evolved on several distinguish suitable occasions within the class class Aves as shown in figure 1 which looks at the separate origins of migration within the family Turdidae6. The multiple evolutionary origins of migration send word that there atomic number 18 numerous reasons as to why adopting a lifestyle that involves moving between diametrical argonas is advantageous to a species (Outlaw et al., 2003). With any variant, there must be a selection pressure forcing a species to develop a new strategy to be succeederful (Williams, 2008). In the case of bird migration, the oceansonal variability of primary resources is a training driving factor for migrating but the changing humor conditions byout the year is also angiotensin-convert ing enzyme of the main benefits of being able to migrate 7(Alerstam, 2003). Birds can be vainglorious duration migrators, such as the Sooty shearwater, a sea bird that migrates approximately 64,000 km in 260 days with an daily live infinite of 900km (Schaffer et al., 2006). This heroic migration between North America and New Zealand is one of the largest migrations by a bird. In contrast the Spotted Owls of the Sierra Nevada have been observed to be aggrandisement migrators, of short distance migrators, as they have a spending site which is between 0.6-1.0 km closer to sea level than their usual nesting ground (Bias and Gutierrez, 1992). The comparisons between the journeys made by these two birds shows how two contrastive environmental pressures can lead to the same solution. The farsighted distance migrators8 were driven to travel across continents due to the enquire to find a sustainable intellectual nourishment source in changing seasonal conditions while the altitud inal migrators be driven to move based on climatic conditions9 (Jenni and Kery, 2003). If migrating offers species a richer picture of resources and a more than(prenominal) than favourable environment to survive in then why do only somewhat species of birds migrate? As with many things in the natural world migration has its cost as well as its benefits, the costs and risks associated with migration ar so graduate(prenominal) that non every species is adapted, nor needs to undertake the challenges migration creates. In order to travel such distances indivi two-folds need to be able to store resources by carrying extra weight leading up to the migration. This store must then be accessed during the flight meaning the individual must be able to alter their metabolism to store and release fats efficiently 10(Jenni and Jenni-Eiermann, 1998). Finally the risk of death during this journey is high as there many factors at play in the advantage of making the trip.The final settin g of migration is how species successfully manage to journey from one location to another heedless of distance. There ar ternary means of orientating observed in birds and they be pi cumulusage, compass orientation and true gliding (Alcock, 2013). navigation is common in species such as homing pigeons where landmarks are used as navigational cues (Mehlhorn and Rehkmper, 2009). These landmarks could be environmental, such as rivers or forests but can also be artificial, in finical tall-stalked buildings and major courses. Migrating from one location to another without the use of cues requires a species to have a compass orientation and understanding of which direction it needs to travel to reach the location. An experiment done on the migratory europiuman Robin showed that they can orientate using geo magnetized cues through a sense that is localised to the right mall (Wiltschko et al., 2002). True navigation is when a species has the ability to navigate towards the home location without any navigational cues and regardless of the direction (McFarland, 1999). 11Having summarised the integral mechanisms behind migration I leave instantly spend the remainder of this discussion focusing on what our impact as humans is on the migration of birds.Human interference on the animals we share the human beings with is becoming an progressively more serious problem. The effect we have on terrestrial migratory species whitethorn seem obvious as land use expands into new, wild territories but our effect on birds as they migrate through the power of flight is somewhat more complex. There are many factors that give to how we disrupt the migratory thoroughfares, territories and even the birds themselves. In parts of southern Europe and Yankee Africa the illegal12 shooting and gauze of birds has become an increasingly popular diligence. In Egypt 700km of nets are put up along the coastline designed to snare drum thousands of migrating passerine birds such as willow-warblers, red-backed shrikes and barn swallows all of which are illegal to catch under the national law (Salama, 2016). Recently there has been a strong push for the local authorities within Egypt to execute the regulations that are in place as these nets are positioned to intersect with one of the major migratory flyways from Africa to Eurasia as shown in Figure 2 where the area in question is within percentage 2. This area is not only targeted by nets in North Africa but many southern European countries such as France and Spain also engage in similar practices involving illegal clear. In Italy, oddly in the Sicily region, shooting of birds is a common sport when migrators are making their journey to warmer modes in Africa. Unlike the mist netting practices, game hunt club is legal to permit holders and the Italian authorities allow the 710,000 hunters to shoot 30 birds a day over a 2 month extent (CABS, 2015). A case against illegal hunting of birds has recently reached EU law regarding the trapping and commercial caging of birds in Malta. Many of the birds targeted are rare or protected species such as the endangered Pallid Harrier, the Purple heron and the Turtle dove (Raine et al., 2015). trance the fight against illegal hunting and shooting of these birds is on tone ending, the effects of these activities in undoubtedly having a negative impact on their success. Migrating to manners grounds that are better equipped with resources and protection should be an adaptation for success in these species. Instead they are being il legitimately hunted, trapped and shot while en way over this area resulting in a much lower number of birds successfully reaching breeding sites. Undoubtedly this seriously damages population size 13of these European migrators and puts increasing strain on the repugn journey they make twice every year (Hirschfeld and Heyd, 2005). This particular study by Hirschfeld and Heyd (2005) reports that hunters are legally allowed to kill just 24 species of European native birds however a total of 82 different species were recorded to have been hunted that year. Despite the obvious illegal activity being done there is still a relaxed enforcement of these regulations across Europe and North Africa and widespread disagreement around how to resolve the problems we, as humans, are causing.The current population of humans on earth is 7.5 billion with an annual growth so far, from January March 2017 is nearly 17 million (World population clock, 2017). As the global populations increase so to do food demands and a pressure to convert unused land into cropland or an expansion of existing urban regions. This unfortunately leads to widespread deforestation as the need for space increases on a daily basis (Lambin and Meyfroidt, 2011). Deforestation is threatening the ecosystem in which many migratory birds depend on. The cloud forest in primordial America is under threat due to increases in forest conversion14 . Many of the birds species in this region are altitudinal migrators and rely on the cloud forest for breeding (Cox, 2010)15. That is a very localised example of how deforestation is impacting migration but on a much wider scale the remnant of tropical and deciduous forests has a huge impact on birds migrating between the two tropics. The American Redstart, a small passerine bird, winters in the Caribbean, southwest America and Central America before migrating north to North America, and Canada to breed (Sherry Holmes 1997). Breeding success in these birds depends on the quality of both the wintering and breeding habitat and disruption to tropical forests in South and Central America and to deciduous forests in North America has influenced the reproductive success of breeding pairs in these regions (Norris et al., 2004). Deforestation is not the only interference to habitat we are causing, our need to continuously agitate landscapes so as they are better suited to our increasing ly more developed societies is impacting many important habitats for migratory birds.16Conversion of open land 17into man made developments can lead to many environmental disruptions. unity case that I have a personal interest in18 is the proposed development of a new dual carriageway between Belfast and Londonderry in Northern Ireland. While there is widespread agreement that the existing A6 channel has seen an increase in use over the past 10 years (Johnston, 2016) the proposed route of the new road has been highly controversial. The area in question is19shown in Figure 3 and the proposed route passes straight through sensitive land that is used by Whooper Swans wintering in Northern Ireland. According to the RSPB Whooper Swans are an amber list species due to their small population and limited breeding areas. The swans migrate to the UK from Iceland to winter and this particular area in figure 3 is a highly important habitat for migrating pairs. The fields are flooded regularly by the bordering Lough Neagh and so are a rich feeding habitat for these migrating birds (RSPB). A number of local and national environment agencies and organisations are working with the the Department of Infrastructure to find a compromise that protects this nationally important habitat for the Whooper Swans. While the effect on these swans is yet to be seen as work on the new road is only reaching preliminary stages this year it will undoubtedly cause disruption to these wintering populations in the years to come.While deforestation and urban development is a direct way in which we are destroying habitats of migratory birds an indirect way is through clime throw. It is no secret that human activity is massively contributing to the speed at which climate change is occurring and some impacts of this is loss of habitats, reduced food availability and changing season lengths disrupting migration times (Travis, 2003 Bradshaw, 2006 Crick, 2004). In the UK we are beholding a lengthe ning of seasons20 meaning birds are arriving earlier and departing later (Sparks and Mason, 2004). While this can be considered a positive for UK bird numbers the migrating species arriving early could be disadvantageous to their need of resources. While the birds may be arriving early due to the changing home21 territory climate and the extended migratory territory season, food resources much do not sync with this change in habit. What is being observed is an increasingly unsuccessful first brood of early arrivers due to the food supply, whether it is insects or berries, not being available (Harrington et al., 1999). An example of a bird effected by this is the Waxwing, a Northern European and Scandinavian passerine bird that has increasingly been migrating to the UK during winter to access food supplies. This is because with climate change there have been fewer berries in the Northern and Boreal forests forcing the Waxwing to expand their migration further to the UK (Huntley, 200 8). 22One of the most common migratory flyways is from Africa into Europe. Figure 4 shows the different routes the Montagu Harrier uses to get from the Sahel region of Africa across the mediterranean into Europe. While I have already discussed the dangers of migrating across North Africa and Confederate Europe regarding hunting, it is the journey across the Sahara desert that I will now be focusing on. The Sahel region is dominated by the Sahara desert with most of the land area being dry, desiccated land with the outskirts and coastal regions being populated and used for agriculture (Zeng, 2003). However in the decade the Sahel region has been under drought conditions meaning a lot of the once arable, green land is under going desertification, hence why there is a popular notion that the Sahara is expanding (Foley et al., 2003). Travelling across desert is not an low-cal journey to make. There is limited water, food, roosting sites and the climate is hot and dry. This means that birds such as the Montagu harasser (figure 4) or the garden Warbler, both of which are summer migrants in the UK and Europe, need appropriate energy stores to start out the journey (Jenni and Jenni-Eiermann, 1998). With this area of desert land expanding it makes the already challenging journey even more demanding on energy stores and as a result many of the smaller passerine birds such as the Garden Warbler are not as successful in migrating across Africa. Most species can not render the crossing in still air and require prevailing bring ups across the desert to aid in flight 23(Barboutis et al., 2011). With climate change set to continue the drought in the Sahel region migrating across this major ecological barrier successfully will become increasingly more challenging with a lot more pressure being put on stop off sites in North Africa and Southern Europe where there is already so much competition and hunting occurring (Trierweiler et al., 2014).Stop off sites 24are decisive to the success of long distance migrations especially when birds are flying across challenging terrain or resourceless water. These stop off sites tend to be rich habitats that are used by migrants for intensive feeding to re stock fuel supplies for the next leg of the journey (Pomeroy et al., 2006). Common stop off sites are mud flats as they are rich in resources and often have low predation risks as migrants flock together on the shore. Species like the Sandpiper use coastal mudflats as stop over sites and a study observing site selection based on disturbances, predator presence and food copiousness was conducted with results showing no preference of site when there are land disturbances or predator presence. The study by Pomeroy et al, (2006) did however provide significant results on site seleciton based on food supply indicating that this is the main purpose of choosing these sites for stop over points. One of the serious impacts of climate change is rising sea levels and so, low lying coastal areas such as mud flats will gradually becoming for good flooded as a result (Church and White, 2006). Sadly this means that not only are conclusion sites being lost but so to are the stopover areas that are essential for long distance migrators.Fighting climate change is one of the biggest environmental challenges we are undertaking. One method of cutting ingest the global carbon emissions, in an attempt to slow plenty the greenhouse effect and thus climate change, is increasing the production of renewable energy (Mitchell, 1989). Renewable energy offers clean production of resources that our expanding population demands and wind energy has made significant in roads in many countries. Unfortunately for migrating birds wind turbines are a serious hazard on their already difficult journey. Off shore wind farms are frequently causing disruption to flocks of nocturnal migrators flying across the baltic sea which has a large number of wind farms. A study taking ob servations of the collision frequency at a German offshore wind farm recorded a total of 442 birds of 21 different species were killed due to direct collision or subsequent death from injury over a one month period (Hppop et al., 2006). While renewable energy is an important step towards fighting climate change, wind farm locations should be planned around major migratory flyways to reduce the impact they have on bird species.It is easy to focus on how we negatively effect migrating birds but it is equally important to highlight the positives. While climate change has resulted in a change in migration times due to longer seasons it also has meant that, particularly in temperate latitudes, there has been an increase in the length of the breeding season (Sparks and Mason, 2004). Small passerine bird that migrate breed in the UK typically have two broods during the breeding season if the food availability and weather conditions are right. However the increase in length of this breeding season has seen a boost in successful 2nd broods wit some species such as the Reed warbler having as many as 5 broods over one season (Halupka, 2008). This increased success is due to the lengthy food supply allowing the fledglings to heighten their fitness and thus increase their chance of survival to adulthood25. However as mentioned previously the success of the longer breeding period is dependent on the migratory species arriving at a peak time where resources and weather conditions are adequate to sustain a breeding population (Harrington et al., 1999). other negative human effect, that can also be deemed a positive, is urbanisation. Many species of migratory birds require navigational cues as means of finding flyways and locations. While in a natural environment these cues can be forests, rivers or mountains, man made structures can also prove to be very useful navigation aids (Kamil and Cheng, 2001). Studies into navigation and route choice of homing pigeons has shown that they choose to follow motorways and railway lines, using entrances and exits to navigate to their home territo26ry (Lipp et al., 2004). Finally, the recent initiatives of environmental agencies in the UK, such as the RSPB, to get involved and interact with garden birds has seen the number of households putting out regular bird food rise dramatically (Robb et al., 2008). While supplementary feeding provides our native garden birds, such as coal tits and blue tits, a year long food supply it also provides an invaluable resource for migrating birds. One species in particular that has started to expand its migration distance to include the UK is the Blackcap. While blackcaps were a rare site in UK gardens several decades ago they are now becoming a familiar winter addition to the suburban gardens. In the 1950s ornithologists began to notice this change in migration route, instead of choosing a south westerly migration into Spain, blackcaps have evolved a successful new route into the UK (Plummer et al., 2015). As human activity continues to threaten not just the migration of birds but global biodiversity as a whole, the Blackcaps success story is a welcomed positive of our impact on the world around us.Migration is an important adaptation in the life cycle of birds and allows many species to access resources that are necessary to survival. The evolution of a migratory life style was driven by environmental selection pressures and is now being inhibited by artificial pressures. As human activity becomes increasingly more intrusive on the environment the tautness on migrating birds to navigate successfully, journey across challenging conditions and to find suitable territories is becoming ever more difficult. With stricter enforcement on hunting and capturing restrictions in Europe and North Africa the major African to Eurasia flyway could become a much safer route for migrating flocks. While that is something that can be controlled, the rate of population increa se of the human line of achievement is getting higher and higher and so is the demand to provide resources, both land and food, for the population. If we changed our agricultural industry so that we are producing crops at a much more efficient rate, the need to cut down forests would lessen and in fact we would preserve rare habitats that are used not just by native species but also visiting migrators. While we are starting to make significant strides into tackling climate change by developing renewable energy sources there is still a lot of inhabit for consideration of environmental preservation. Finally however, it is important to highlight the improvements we are making for migrating birds, while there are only a handful of positive impacts there is room to expand and create a more global effect.27References Alcock, J. (2013). Animal behaviour. 10th ed. Sunderland, Mass. 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