This poster aims to summarize the current body of research on the genetic regulatory mechanisms of migration in songbirds and provide potential future directions to study migration, with a strong emphasis on transcriptomics and using scRNAseq. The poster also illustrates the differences in RNA expression in different retinal cell types of 2 migratory songbirds- the Eurasian Blackcap and the...
The Asian houbara bustard (Chlamydotis macqueenii), a partial migrant species of conservation concern, offers a compelling model for unravelling the evolutionary dynamics of avian migration. Intensive radiotracking records revealed both resident and migrant populations (including obligatory and partially migrant individuals), each following distinct migratory pathways. To investigate the...
Ute Postel, Yassine Kasmi, Reinhold Hanel
The European smelt, Osmerus eperlanus, is a facultative anadromous species that colonizes diverse aquatic ecosystems in northern Europe. Its life cycle involves a freshwater phase for spawning and larval development, often followed by a growth and maturation phase in the sea. Lacustrine resident populations are known from several lakes in northern...
Robert Ethan Rollins, Helena Westerdahl, Miriam Liedvogel
Variation in migratory phenotype could play an important role in shaping the evolutionary history of bird species. Through choice of breeding and overwintering grounds, birds could face a variable environment especially in relation to pathogen or parasite structure which would result in changes to functionality of immunity. This...
Migratory divides are contact zones where individuals with divergent migration behaviour meet and potentially interbreed. We tracked barn swallows (Hirundo rustica) within and on either side of a migratory divide in Northern Germany, Switzerland and Finland to study various consequences and correlates of divergent migration routes and non-breeding areas. Furthermore, capitalizing on the...
Salmón P., Weissensteiner, M., Rodríguez, M., Wikelski, M., Partecke, J., & Liedvogel M.
Telomeres are repetitive, noncoding DNA sequences that cap and protect the ends of chromosomes and they constitute a highly conserved system involved in the maintenance of genome stability and replication. Over the last two decades the question on how telomere length is related to survival and fitness...
Georg Manthey, Miriam Liedvogel
As was shown in countless experiments, young migratory songbirds can find their way over hundreds of kilometers without guidance of their parents or other conspecifics, showing that there is a genetic basis to migratory direction. Behavioural experiments on Eurasian blackcaps have suggested that migratory direction is inherited following mendellian rules,...
Sara Döge, Corinna Langebrake, Lars Burnus, Miriam Liedvogel
With the focus on variability of songbird migration, we try to understand which factors influence this behaviour. Breeding site fidelity seems to be essential for the evolution of migration, as it’s an important strategy to return to a successful breeding area to persist in seasonally changing habitats. We investigated the...
