Ecophysiological Adaptations Associated with Animal Migration

Many animals migrate during the year to track favorable environmental conditions and resource availability, with migratory species including insects, fish, reptiles, birds and mammals. Migrations of hundreds to tens of thousands of kilometers are undertaken by a vast range of animals, from insects to birds and marine animals. Many migrants experience challenging conditions en route, including extremes and/or fluctuations of temperature, humidity and solar radiation, osmotic stress, pathogen pressure, and hypoxia. Migration therefore often represents one of the most significant athletic and energy-demanding challenges in an individual’s life (for example, some animals consume half their body mass during migration), and thus migrants have evolved various morphological, physiological and behavioral adaptations to prepare for and cope with migration. While morphological and behavioral adaptations associated with migration have been the focus of research for many decades, the physiological adaptations remain scarcely investigated to date.

Migration allows various species of animals to survive and thrive in dynamic environmental conditions, but may pose considerable energetic trade-offs, as physiological preparations for migration may come at a cost to factors such as growth and survival. While research on the physiological mechanisms facilitating migration is an emerging and fast-growing field, there are considerable information gaps regarding the physiological mechanisms that drive variation in migratory strategies among species. We need to understand these trade-offs because they help explain migratory routes, migratory dichotomies within populations, and ultimately inform how the ecology and evolution of animal migration has evolved.

We invite researchers studying migration in any taxa (mammals, fish, birds, insects, etc.) to contribute manuscripts addressing the physiological adaptations (in the broadest sense) of animals to the challenges faced during migration. In particular, we welcome contributions at the interface of physiology and behavior. Specific themes we believe are suitable for this Research Topic include, but are not limited to:

● Physiological adaptations to short and long-distance movements
● Migration through extreme environments
● Physiological constraints affecting the behavior of migrants
● Effects of the environment on the physiology of migrants
● Physiological flexibility associated with migration
● Seasonal physiological changes in response to migration
● Theoretical and review papers dealing with the ecophysiology of migration