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The influence of social cues on timing of animal migrations

Nature Ecology & Evolution volume 6, pages 1617–1625 (2022)Cite this article

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Abstract

Animal migration plays a central role in many ecological and evolutionary processes, yet migratory populations worldwide are increasingly threatened. Adjusting migration timing to match ecosystem phenology is key to survival in dynamic and changing ecosystems, especially in an era of human-induced rapid environmental change. Social cues are increasingly recognized as major components of migratory behaviour, yet a comprehensive understanding of how social cues influence the timing of animal migrations remains elusive. Here, we introduce a framework for assessing the role that social cues, ranging from explicit (for example, active cueing) to implicit (for example, competition), play in animals’ temporal migration decisions across a range of scales. By applying this theoretical lens to a systematic review of published literature, we show that a broad range of social cues frequently mediate migration timing at a range of temporal scales and across highly diverse migratory taxa. We further highlight that while rarely documented, several social cue mechanisms (for example, social learning and density dependency) play important adaptive roles in matching migration timing with ecosystem dynamics. Thus, social cues play a fundamental role in migration timing, with potentially widespread ecological consequences and implications for the conservation of migratory species. Furthermore, our analysis establishes a theoretical basis on which to evaluate future findings on the role of both conspecific and interspecific social cues in this intersection of behavioural ecology and global change biology.

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Fig. 1: Scales of temporal decisions in migration.
Fig. 2: Categories of social cues that can influence the timing of migration.
Fig. 3: Taxonomic summary of the systematic literature review for case studies documenting the influence of social cues on the timing of an animal migration.
Fig. 4: Case studies identified via systematic review placed along the conceptual framework gradients.

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Data availability

Data that support the findings of this study are available from https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6574762.

Code availability

’Code that supports the findings of this study is available from https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6574762.

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Acknowledgements

W.K.O. was supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program, as a David and Lucile Packard Foundation Stanford graduate fellow, and by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute postdoctoral fellowship program. K.M.A. was supported by the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment’s Mentoring Undergraduates in Interdisciplinary Research programme. A.M.B. was supported by the H. Mason Keeler Endowed Professorship in Sports Fisheries Management.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hopkins Marine Station, Department of Biology, Stanford University, Pacific Grove, CA, USA

    William K. Oestreich, Larry B. Crowder & Megan F. McKenna

  2. Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, Moss Landing, CA, USA

    William K. Oestreich

  3. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA

    Kanoe M. Aiu

  4. School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA

    Andrew M. Berdahl

  5. Center for Ecosystem Sentinels, Department of Biology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA

    Briana Abrahms

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W.K.O. led the writing of the paper with contributions and editing from K.M.A., L.B.C., M.F.M., A.M.B. and B.A. W.K.O. and K.M.A. led the systematic review process with contributions from L.B.C., M.F.M., A.M.B. and B.A. W.K.O., K.M.A. and B.A. conceptualized the study.

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Oestreich, W.K., Aiu, K.M., Crowder, L.B. et al. The influence of social cues on timing of animal migrations. Nat Ecol Evol 6, 1617–1625 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-022-01866-0

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