NATS 1550: Week 2
Explain what migration is, differentiating between migration and other types of movements.
1.usually from one habitat to another
2.usually following a well defined route to the targeted destination
3.usually at a particular time of the year (seasonal movement)
4.usually driven by (changing) of available resources
Some justifications for migration includes for food, mating sites, breeding, seasonal changes, geographical changes
Distinguishing what is migrant and not is ambiguous at the start of examining a species as animals have various responses and evolutionary characteristic which may be a short periodic response
What is NOT migration
Movements which are unconnected to the seasonal changes in the environment or unconnected to the stages of an organism’s life cycle such as Feed Trips
Salmon is an example of an organism that undergoes migration as they complete a part of their life cycle in freshwater and does a journey to ocean (non freshwater)
Distinguish between the terms ‘migrant’ and ‘resident’
Migrant is an organism which undergoes this trip
Residents: those that do not migrate
3 & 4: Describe and distinguish between different types of migration patterns and Identify different types of migrants when presented with a description of their migration patterns.
A key factor for determining if an organism participates in migration is through determining if they engage in a predictable migrant pattern
Obligate Migration: Migration which always happens(**FIXED)
regardless of annual variation in resources (ice conditions, food availability, etc)
every year, in an predictable fashion (consistent similar in terms of location and time)
Example is Canada Whimbrels; this species goes from North america (Canada) to South America (northern region)
Facultative Migration: Migration which is variable (**Flexible)
Deviates from a linear migration path due to the organism reacting to the present conditions at the time. IT IS ALSO OPTIONAL
No set location or schedule (time)
In facultative migration, it can include partial migration
Example is Common Golden-Eye (Duck) as they migrant based on the condition of the waters (If water freezes, they move south, as a general pattern but is not predictable)
Complete Migration: Entire species populations migrate
Partial Migration: Some of the population migrate while others remain in the same region
One reason for partial migration by some populations is competition for resources (Older individuals within a population are easily able to obtain resources whereas younger population experience difficulty with obtaining resources, hence why they migrate to other regions with less competition)
Example: Older birds are less likely to migrate compared to younger birds and females
Differential migration: Migration patterns which have deviation within the populations such as age or sex
Diversity of Migration can also be examined through Timings
Seasonal Migration: Predictable migration during a particular season (ex: organism migrating to another region after breeding for temperature)
Irruptive movements: Variable condition (e.g. food conditions) which results in variable movements for a significant population
Diurnal Migration: migration during the day
Nocturnal Migration: migration during the night
Spatial migration: The distance and altitude of the migration
Short distance migration: For birds breeding within US/Canada
Long distance migration: For birds breeding beyond US/Canada
Altitudinal migration: migration between different elevations (some birds migrate to higher elevations for breeding)
The loop is different from the to and fro as the return path is different
5) Explain why scientists use binomial names rather than common names.
Biological classification of migrants animals are done due to the diverse nature of organisms
Through using precise naming schemes for animals, we are able to categorise and distinguish between different organisms compared to common names which cannot distinguish different species as they are…
1) Incorrect (Crayfish is not a fish)
2) Common names can refer to multiple species (e.g. monkey)
3) Might have more than one common name
4) A particular species may not have a common name at all
5) Common names differ from language to language
Interpret the hierarchical system used to classify organisms in Biology.
The hierarchical system used to classify organisms in biology essentially have a foundation which is broad which gets more specific once you go up the hierarchy. Each hierarchical level may have other categories which allows for more specific classification.
The usage of the hierarchical system also allows the establishment of certain species being related
Distinguish proper scientific binomial names from other types of names or incorrect formats.
Proper scientific binomial names have the genus name first with the first letter capitalized and the whole word italicized
The second part of the binomial name is the species identifier which is italicized but not capitalized
bi=2 nominal=names binomial= 2 names
Identify some of the groups of animals (i.e. kinds of animals) in which we can find migratory species.
Birds?
Fish?
Week 2, Lecture #2
Understand that the constitution of migration must include a justification like weather to another habitat (It has to be a certain distance and take them out of their usual habitat , and must be associated with a seasonal change)