Journal article 201 views 46 downloads
Turbulence causes kinematic and behavioural adjustments in a flapping flier
Journal of The Royal Society Interface, Volume: 21, Issue: 212
Swansea University Authors:
Manos Lempidakis, Krishnamoorthy Krishnan, Baptiste Garde, Emily Shepard
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DOI (Published version): 10.1098/rsif.2023.0591
Abstract
Turbulence is a widespread phenomenon in the natural world, but its influence on flapping fliers remains little studied. We assessed how freestream turbulence affected the kinematics, flight effort and track properties of homing pigeons (Columba livia), using the fine-scale variations in flight heig...
| Published in: | Journal of The Royal Society Interface |
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| ISSN: | 1742-5662 |
| Published: |
The Royal Society
2024
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| Online Access: |
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| URI: | https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa65713 |
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| Abstract: |
Turbulence is a widespread phenomenon in the natural world, but its influence on flapping fliers remains little studied. We assessed how freestream turbulence affected the kinematics, flight effort and track properties of homing pigeons (Columba livia), using the fine-scale variations in flight height as a proxy for turbulence levels. Birds showed a small increase in their wingbeat amplitude with increasing turbulence (similar to laboratory studies), but this was accompanied by a reduction in mean wingbeat frequency, such that their flapping wing speed remained the same. Mean kinematic responses to turbulence may therefore enable birds to increase their stability without a reduction in propulsive efficiency. Nonetheless, the most marked response to turbulence was an increase in the variability of wingbeat frequency and amplitude. These stroke-to-stroke changes in kinematics provide instantaneous compensation for turbulence. They will also increase flight costs. Yet pigeons only made small adjustments to their flight altitude, likely resulting in little change in exposure to strong convective turbulence. Responses to turbulence were therefore distinct from responses to wind, with the costs of high turbulence being levied through an increase in the variability of their kinematics and airspeed. This highlights the value of investigating the variability in flight parameters in free-living animals. |
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| Item Description: |
Data accessibility:The datasets generated and/or analysed during the current study along with the essential code employed for statistical modelling, including the final modelled dataset, are available from the Movebank Data Repository, https://doi.org/10.5441/001/1.284 (Lempidakis et al. 2023) |
| Keywords: |
freestream turbulence, stability, wing kinematics, flight cost, flapping flight |
| College: |
Faculty of Science and Engineering |
| Funders: |
This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement no. 15874 to E.L.C.S.) and a MaxPlanck Sabbatical Fellowship to E.L.C.S. We also acknowledge funding by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) under Germany's Excellence Strategy EXC 2117–422037984. |
| Issue: |
212 |