Title
Infrasound as a Cue for Seabird Navigation
Date Issued
26 November 2021
Access level
open access
Resource Type
journal article
Author(s)
Patrick S.C.
Assink J.D.
Basille M.
Clusella-Trullas S.
Clay T.A.
den Ouden O.F.C.
Zeyl J.N.
Benhamou S.
Christensen-Dalsgaard J.
Evers L.G.
Fayet A.L.
Köppl C.
Malkemper E.P.
Martín López L.M.
Padget O.
Phillips R.A.
Prior M.K.
Smets P.S.M.
van Loon E.E.
University of Florida
Publisher(s)
Frontiers Media S.A.
Abstract
Seabirds are amongst the most mobile of all animal species and spend large amounts of their lives at sea. They cross vast areas of ocean that appear superficially featureless, and our understanding of the mechanisms that they use for navigation remains incomplete, especially in terms of available cues. In particular, several large-scale navigational tasks, such as homing across thousands of kilometers to breeding sites, are not fully explained by visual, olfactory or magnetic stimuli. Low-frequency inaudible sound, i.e., infrasound, is ubiquitous in the marine environment. The spatio-temporal consistency of some components of the infrasonic wavefield, and the sensitivity of certain bird species to infrasonic stimuli, suggests that infrasound may provide additional cues for seabirds to navigate, but this remains untested. Here, we propose a framework to explore the importance of infrasound for navigation. We present key concepts regarding the physics of infrasound and review the physiological mechanisms through which infrasound may be detected and used. Next, we propose three hypotheses detailing how seabirds could use information provided by different infrasound sources for navigation as an acoustic beacon, landmark, or gradient. Finally, we reflect on strengths and limitations of our proposed hypotheses, and discuss several directions for future work. In particular, we suggest that hypotheses may be best tested by combining conceptual models of navigation with empirical data on seabird movements and in-situ infrasound measurements.
Volume
9
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Zoología, Ornitología, Entomología, ciencias biológicas del comportamiento
Biología marina, Biología de agua dulce, Limnología
Subjects
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-85121333555
Source
Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution
ISSN of the container
2296701X
Sponsor(s)
This project was funded by a Human Frontiers Science Programme Young Investigator grant RGY0072/2017 to SP, JA, MB, and SC-T.
Sources of information:
Directorio de Producción Científica
Scopus