Latitudinal gradients in air density create invisible topography at sea level, affecting animal flight costs

Shepard, Emily; Garde, Baptiste; Krishnan, Krishnamoorthy; Fell, Adam; Tatayah, Vikash; Jones, Carl G.; Cole, Nik C.; Lempidakis, Manos

doi:10.1016/j.cub.2024.10.064

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Latitudinal gradients in air density create invisible topography at sea level, affecting animal flight costs

Emily Shepard

, Baptiste Garde, Krishnamoorthy Krishnan, Adam Fell, Vikash Tatayah, Carl G. Jones, Nik C. Cole, Manos Lempidakis

Current Biology

Swansea University Authors: Emily Shepard , Baptiste Garde, Krishnamoorthy Krishnan, Manos Lempidakis

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DOI (Published version): 10.1016/j.cub.2024.10.064

Abstract

Regional patterns in wind underpin the low-cost migratory flyways of billions of birds and insects,1,2,3 but the effect of large-scale changes in temperature on flight is unknown. Flight costs should increase with rising temperatures because lift decreases as density decreases, whereas weight remain...

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Published in:	Current Biology
ISSN:	0960-9822 1879-0445
Published:	Elsevier BV 2024
Online Access:	Check full text
URI:	https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa68360

first_indexed	2024-11-27T19:46:36Z
last_indexed	2025-01-09T20:33:21Z
id	cronfa68360
recordtype	SURis
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Flight costs should increase with rising temperatures because lift decreases as density decreases, whereas weight remains unchanged. The effects of density are well-established in the context of high-altitude movements and migration.4,5,6,7 Here, we examine the impact of air density on low-flying birds in relation to seasonal, regional, and global changes in temperature. We deployed multi-sensor loggers on red-tailed tropicbirds (Phaethon rubricauda), a large and widely distributed seabird breeding year round in Mauritius. Seasonal changes in air density caused very small differences in flight costs (1%–2%, estimated using aeronautical models) despite being the major driver of seasonal differences in wingbeat frequency. Flight costs should vary in space as well as time, and aeronautical models predicted ≥10% variation in power across the tropicbird’s range due to latitudinal temperature gradients. Changes in air density can therefore modulate flight costs across regional scales, even when birds are operating close to sea level. Indeed, creating a 20-year climatology of air density at sea level revealed that temperature gradients cause effective altitude to vary by >2 km at a global scale within a given season. 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spelling	2024-12-12T15:45:57.2328631 v2 68360 2024-11-27 Latitudinal gradients in air density create invisible topography at sea level, affecting animal flight costs 54729295145aa1ea56d176818d51ed6a 0000-0001-7325-6398 Emily Shepard Emily Shepard true false 0d5e96ee58acfec4771c81cd2cb4cca8 Baptiste Garde Baptiste Garde true false cb969e5504f107a82db71f89865d2b3a Krishnamoorthy Krishnan Krishnamoorthy Krishnan true false 7ddccac6c4aa55c9362bca7def907848 Manos Lempidakis Manos Lempidakis true false 2024-11-27 BGPS Regional patterns in wind underpin the low-cost migratory flyways of billions of birds and insects,1,2,3 but the effect of large-scale changes in temperature on flight is unknown. Flight costs should increase with rising temperatures because lift decreases as density decreases, whereas weight remains unchanged. The effects of density are well-established in the context of high-altitude movements and migration.4,5,6,7 Here, we examine the impact of air density on low-flying birds in relation to seasonal, regional, and global changes in temperature. We deployed multi-sensor loggers on red-tailed tropicbirds (Phaethon rubricauda), a large and widely distributed seabird breeding year round in Mauritius. Seasonal changes in air density caused very small differences in flight costs (1%–2%, estimated using aeronautical models) despite being the major driver of seasonal differences in wingbeat frequency. Flight costs should vary in space as well as time, and aeronautical models predicted ≥10% variation in power across the tropicbird’s range due to latitudinal temperature gradients. Changes in air density can therefore modulate flight costs across regional scales, even when birds are operating close to sea level. Indeed, creating a 20-year climatology of air density at sea level revealed that temperature gradients cause effective altitude to vary by >2 km at a global scale within a given season. This “invisible topography” at sea level could influence the biogeography of flight morphologies, particularly the distribution of birds with the highest flight costs, which generally occur in regions with relatively high air density. Journal Article Current Biology 0 Elsevier BV 0960-9822 1879-0445 Energetics, accelerometry, biologging, macroecology, biogeography, movement ecology 27 11 2024 2024-11-27 10.1016/j.cub.2024.10.064 Report COLLEGE NANME Biosciences Geography and Physics School COLLEGE CODE BGPS Swansea University SU Library paid the OA fee (TA Institutional Deal) This work was funded by a European Research Council starter grant (715874 to E.L.C.S.), under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation program. 2024-12-12T15:45:57.2328631 2024-11-27T15:49:05.6158998 Faculty of Science and Engineering School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Biosciences Emily Shepard 0000-0001-7325-6398 1 Baptiste Garde 2 Krishnamoorthy Krishnan 3 Adam Fell 4 Vikash Tatayah 5 Carl G. Jones 6 Nik C. Cole 7 Manos Lempidakis 8
title	Latitudinal gradients in air density create invisible topography at sea level, affecting animal flight costs
spellingShingle	Latitudinal gradients in air density create invisible topography at sea level, affecting animal flight costs Emily Shepard Baptiste Garde Krishnamoorthy Krishnan Manos Lempidakis
title_short	Latitudinal gradients in air density create invisible topography at sea level, affecting animal flight costs
title_full	Latitudinal gradients in air density create invisible topography at sea level, affecting animal flight costs
title_fullStr	Latitudinal gradients in air density create invisible topography at sea level, affecting animal flight costs
title_full_unstemmed	Latitudinal gradients in air density create invisible topography at sea level, affecting animal flight costs
title_sort	Latitudinal gradients in air density create invisible topography at sea level, affecting animal flight costs
author_id_str_mv	54729295145aa1ea56d176818d51ed6a 0d5e96ee58acfec4771c81cd2cb4cca8 cb969e5504f107a82db71f89865d2b3a 7ddccac6c4aa55c9362bca7def907848
author_id_fullname_str_mv	54729295145aa1ea56d176818d51ed6a_*_Emily Shepard 0d5e96ee58acfec4771c81cd2cb4cca8__Baptiste Garde cb969e5504f107a82db71f89865d2b3a__Krishnamoorthy Krishnan 7ddccac6c4aa55c9362bca7def907848_*_Manos Lempidakis
author	Emily Shepard Baptiste Garde Krishnamoorthy Krishnan Manos Lempidakis
author2	Emily Shepard Baptiste Garde Krishnamoorthy Krishnan Adam Fell Vikash Tatayah Carl G. Jones Nik C. Cole Manos Lempidakis
format	Journal article
container_title	Current Biology
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publishDate	2024
institution	Swansea University
issn	0960-9822 1879-0445
doi_str_mv	10.1016/j.cub.2024.10.064
publisher	Elsevier BV
college_str	Faculty of Science and Engineering
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department_str	School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Biosciences{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Science and Engineering{{{_:::_}}}School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Biosciences
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description	Regional patterns in wind underpin the low-cost migratory flyways of billions of birds and insects,1,2,3 but the effect of large-scale changes in temperature on flight is unknown. Flight costs should increase with rising temperatures because lift decreases as density decreases, whereas weight remains unchanged. The effects of density are well-established in the context of high-altitude movements and migration.4,5,6,7 Here, we examine the impact of air density on low-flying birds in relation to seasonal, regional, and global changes in temperature. We deployed multi-sensor loggers on red-tailed tropicbirds (Phaethon rubricauda), a large and widely distributed seabird breeding year round in Mauritius. Seasonal changes in air density caused very small differences in flight costs (1%–2%, estimated using aeronautical models) despite being the major driver of seasonal differences in wingbeat frequency. Flight costs should vary in space as well as time, and aeronautical models predicted ≥10% variation in power across the tropicbird’s range due to latitudinal temperature gradients. Changes in air density can therefore modulate flight costs across regional scales, even when birds are operating close to sea level. Indeed, creating a 20-year climatology of air density at sea level revealed that temperature gradients cause effective altitude to vary by >2 km at a global scale within a given season. This “invisible topography” at sea level could influence the biogeography of flight morphologies, particularly the distribution of birds with the highest flight costs, which generally occur in regions with relatively high air density.
published_date	2024-11-27T02:54:33Z
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score	11.04748

Latitudinal gradients in air density create invisible topography at sea level, affecting animal flight costs

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