True navigation in migrating gulls requires intact olfactory nerves

Martin Wikelski; Elena Arriero; Anna Gagliardo; Richard A. Holland; Markku J. Huttunen; Risto Juvaste; Inge Mueller; Grigori Tertitski; Kasper Thorup; Martin Wild; Markku Alanko; Franz Bairlein; Alexander Cherenkov; Alison Cameron; Reinhard Flatz; Juhani Hannila; Ommo Hüppop; Markku Kangasniemi; Bart Kranstauber; Maija Liisa Penttinen; Kamran Safi; Vladimir Semashko; Heidi Schmid; Ralf Wistbacka

doi:10.1038/srep17061

True navigation in migrating gulls requires intact olfactory nerves

Martin Wikelski^*, Elena Arriero, Anna Gagliardo, Richard A. Holland, Markku J. Huttunen, Risto Juvaste, Inge Mueller, Grigori Tertitski, Kasper Thorup, Martin Wild, Markku Alanko, Franz Bairlein, Alexander Cherenkov, Alison Cameron, Reinhard Flatz, Juhani Hannila, Ommo Hüppop, Markku Kangasniemi, Bart Kranstauber, Maija Liisa PenttinenKamran Safi, Vladimir Semashko, Heidi Schmid, Ralf Wistbacka

^*Corresponding author for this work

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Abstract

During migratory journeys, birds may become displaced from their normal migratory route. Experimental evidence has shown that adult birds can correct for such displacements and return to their goal. However, the nature of the cues used by migratory birds to perform long distance navigation is still debated. In this experiment we subjected adult lesser black-backed gulls migrating from their Finnish/Russian breeding grounds (from >60°N) to Africa (to <5°N) to sensory manipulation, to determine the sensory systems required for navigation. We translocated birds westward (1080 km) or eastward (885 km) to simulate natural navigational challenges. When translocated westwards and outside their migratory corridor birds with olfactory nerve section kept a clear directional preference (southerly) but were unable to compensate for the displacement, while intact birds and gulls with the ophthalmic branch of the trigeminal nerve sectioned oriented towards their population-specific migratory corridor. Thus, air-borne olfactory information seems to be important for migrating gulls to navigate successfully in some circumstances.

Original language	English
Article number	17061
Journal	Scientific Reports
Volume	5
Number of pages	11
ISSN	2045-2322
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/srep17061
Publication status	Published - 2015

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Wikelski_2015_True_navigationFinal published version, 1.23 MBLicence: CC BY

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Wikelski, M., Arriero, E., Gagliardo, A., Holland, R. A., Huttunen, M. J., Juvaste, R., Mueller, I., Tertitski, G., Thorup, K., Wild, M., Alanko, M., Bairlein, F., Cherenkov, A., Cameron, A., Flatz, R., Hannila, J., Hüppop, O., Kangasniemi, M., Kranstauber, B., ... Wistbacka, R. (2015). True navigation in migrating gulls requires intact olfactory nerves. Scientific Reports, 5, [17061]. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep17061

Wikelski, M, Arriero, E, Gagliardo, A, Holland, RA, Huttunen, MJ, Juvaste, R, Mueller, I, Tertitski, G, Thorup, K, Wild, M, Alanko, M, Bairlein, F, Cherenkov, A, Cameron, A, Flatz, R, Hannila, J, Hüppop, O, Kangasniemi, M, Kranstauber, B, Penttinen, ML, Safi, K, Semashko, V, Schmid, H & Wistbacka, R 2015, 'True navigation in migrating gulls requires intact olfactory nerves', Scientific Reports, vol. 5, 17061. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep17061

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title = "True navigation in migrating gulls requires intact olfactory nerves",

abstract = "During migratory journeys, birds may become displaced from their normal migratory route. Experimental evidence has shown that adult birds can correct for such displacements and return to their goal. However, the nature of the cues used by migratory birds to perform long distance navigation is still debated. In this experiment we subjected adult lesser black-backed gulls migrating from their Finnish/Russian breeding grounds (from >60°N) to Africa (to <5°N) to sensory manipulation, to determine the sensory systems required for navigation. We translocated birds westward (1080 km) or eastward (885 km) to simulate natural navigational challenges. When translocated westwards and outside their migratory corridor birds with olfactory nerve section kept a clear directional preference (southerly) but were unable to compensate for the displacement, while intact birds and gulls with the ophthalmic branch of the trigeminal nerve sectioned oriented towards their population-specific migratory corridor. Thus, air-borne olfactory information seems to be important for migrating gulls to navigate successfully in some circumstances.",

author = "Martin Wikelski and Elena Arriero and Anna Gagliardo and Holland, {Richard A.} and Huttunen, {Markku J.} and Risto Juvaste and Inge Mueller and Grigori Tertitski and Kasper Thorup and Martin Wild and Markku Alanko and Franz Bairlein and Alexander Cherenkov and Alison Cameron and Reinhard Flatz and Juhani Hannila and Ommo H{\"u}ppop and Markku Kangasniemi and Bart Kranstauber and Penttinen, {Maija Liisa} and Kamran Safi and Vladimir Semashko and Heidi Schmid and Ralf Wistbacka",

year = "2015",

doi = "10.1038/srep17061",

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journal = "Scientific Reports",

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AU - Wikelski, Martin

AU - Arriero, Elena

AU - Gagliardo, Anna

AU - Holland, Richard A.

AU - Huttunen, Markku J.

AU - Juvaste, Risto

AU - Mueller, Inge

AU - Tertitski, Grigori

AU - Thorup, Kasper

AU - Wild, Martin

AU - Alanko, Markku

AU - Bairlein, Franz

AU - Cherenkov, Alexander

AU - Cameron, Alison

AU - Flatz, Reinhard

AU - Hannila, Juhani

AU - Hüppop, Ommo

AU - Kangasniemi, Markku

AU - Kranstauber, Bart

AU - Penttinen, Maija Liisa

AU - Safi, Kamran

AU - Semashko, Vladimir

AU - Schmid, Heidi

AU - Wistbacka, Ralf

PY - 2015

Y1 - 2015

N2 - During migratory journeys, birds may become displaced from their normal migratory route. Experimental evidence has shown that adult birds can correct for such displacements and return to their goal. However, the nature of the cues used by migratory birds to perform long distance navigation is still debated. In this experiment we subjected adult lesser black-backed gulls migrating from their Finnish/Russian breeding grounds (from >60°N) to Africa (to <5°N) to sensory manipulation, to determine the sensory systems required for navigation. We translocated birds westward (1080 km) or eastward (885 km) to simulate natural navigational challenges. When translocated westwards and outside their migratory corridor birds with olfactory nerve section kept a clear directional preference (southerly) but were unable to compensate for the displacement, while intact birds and gulls with the ophthalmic branch of the trigeminal nerve sectioned oriented towards their population-specific migratory corridor. Thus, air-borne olfactory information seems to be important for migrating gulls to navigate successfully in some circumstances.

AB - During migratory journeys, birds may become displaced from their normal migratory route. Experimental evidence has shown that adult birds can correct for such displacements and return to their goal. However, the nature of the cues used by migratory birds to perform long distance navigation is still debated. In this experiment we subjected adult lesser black-backed gulls migrating from their Finnish/Russian breeding grounds (from >60°N) to Africa (to <5°N) to sensory manipulation, to determine the sensory systems required for navigation. We translocated birds westward (1080 km) or eastward (885 km) to simulate natural navigational challenges. When translocated westwards and outside their migratory corridor birds with olfactory nerve section kept a clear directional preference (southerly) but were unable to compensate for the displacement, while intact birds and gulls with the ophthalmic branch of the trigeminal nerve sectioned oriented towards their population-specific migratory corridor. Thus, air-borne olfactory information seems to be important for migrating gulls to navigate successfully in some circumstances.

U2 - 10.1038/srep17061

DO - 10.1038/srep17061

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 26597351

AN - SCOPUS:84947969076

SN - 2045-2322

VL - 5

JO - Scientific Reports

JF - Scientific Reports

M1 - 17061

ER -

True navigation in migrating gulls requires intact olfactory nerves

Abstract

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