Great Animal Migrations discusses different types of animal migration such as seasonal, latitudinal, and reproductive migrations. It provides examples of seasonal migrations including monarch butterflies traveling between Canada/US and Mexico, and gray whales migrating between Arctic waters and Mexico. The document also addresses how human impacts like habitat loss and climate change threaten animal migrations, and suggests actions people can take to help migrations like tracking migrations, creating wildlife habitats, and reducing waste.
7. Scientists study Migration: Because animal migration is important for their survival. To determine human impact on animals. To help protect ecosystems. Photo credit: t2min4t0r Photo credit: charleschandler Photo credit: Topyti Photo credit: moonjazz Photo credit: Arno & Louise Wildlife
8. Latitudinal = moving from north to south Altitudinal= moving from mountain to sea level Reproductive = finding a safe place to give birth Nomadic = wandering Removal = lack of resources, don’t come back Complete = entire species moves Partial = some, but not all species moves Irruptive = no pattern Types of Migration
9. Seasonal Migration Examples Image credit Visit Journey North-- a global study of wildlife migration and seasonal change.
12. Migrate from Mexico to US/Canada in SpringImage credit Photo credit: Pablo Leautaud-/
13. Monarch Migration Seasonal and Latitudinal Canada and United States in Spring and Summer Mexico in Fall and Winter Photo credits: jndaycoulterand alexds
22. Africa - Zebra & Wildebeest Migration Path Kenya & Tanzania 300 mile loop in Tanzania and Kenya Photo credits: Pull-out by Planethopia; Herd by jntolva
32. Create a Backyard Wildlife Habitat National Wildlife Federation: http://www.nwf.org/Get-Outside/Outdoor-Activities/Garden-for-Wildlife/Create-a-Habitat.aspx
33. Reduce Waste, Reuse, Recycle National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences: http://kids.niehs.nih.gov/recycle.htm
34. Learn More About Animal Migration National Park Service: http://www.nps.gov/akso/parkwise/students/referencelibrary/general/migrationbasics.htm
35. …And Even More. National Geographic Great Migrations Series: http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/great-migrations/
36. Journey North: http://www.learner.org/jnorth/ National Geographic Great Migrations: http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/great-migrations/ National Wildlife Federation-Garden for Wildlife: http://www.nwf.org/Get-Outside/Outdoor-Activities/Garden-for-Wildlife/Create-a-Habitat.aspx National Park Service: http://www.nps.gov/akso/parkwise/students/ReferenceLibrary/general/MigrationBasics.htm Resources:
Monarch butterflies make a two-month, 2000 mile journey from Canada and the U.S. to their wintering site in Mexico each October-December. They spend the winter in Mexico, and then begin the journey back in early spring.Make a monarch moveable object to drag on the map
Monarchs at their wintering homeMexico.
American Cetacean Society Fact Sheet: http://www.acsonline.org/factpack/graywhl.htmAs spring approaches, the days grow longer. Hungry whales know it's time to leave the warm waters of Mexico. They will swim nonstop northward until they reach the food-filled, icy waters of the Arctic. Time to Go AgainAfter a few short months in the Arctic, the seasons are changing again. Northern days grow shorter. Water temperatures drop. Ice starts to form. The food supply dwindles in fewer hours of sunlight. Gray whales know what to do. They head for Mexico's warm waters, thousands of miles to the south.
Journey North Gray Whale Migration Route: http://www.learner.org/jnorth/tm/gwhale/map/route.htmlStarting in February, gray whales begin their 5,000 mile migration from their winter calving grounds in Mexico to their summer feeding grounds in the Arctic. Thanks to its nearshore migration route, we can observe the gray whale along its journey. Journey North reports the migration and timing from the Observation Posts (red dots). moveable object of gray whale
For migratory species, “migration is crucial for survival,” “It allows animals to spend their life in two or more different areas, usually because a lack of food or a period of extreme weather makes it impossible to remain in the same location permanently.” or the need to find water or a mate, or to reach a place where they can reproduce.
In pursuit of food and water, over a million wildebeest and half a million zebra and antelope migrate north from the Serengeti to the adjoining Maasai Mara reserve in Kenya every year. Wildebeests and zebra are in constant search for fresh grass. They’ll travel a 300-mile loop in Tanzania and Kenya, Africa.
Plains zebraand wildebeest often intermingle. They are complementary grazers, preferring different parts of the same grass. Zebra, with their superior vision and hearing, serve as an early warning system for the wildebeest. Given the choice, predators prefer wildebeest meat to zebra. So zebra are happy to offer the carnivores that choice.When the dry season arrives around June, the grasses are exhausted and the wildebeest head to permanent water. Forming columns which stretch for miles, the wildebeest are joined by other hoofed animals like the zebra. Predators follow and crocodiles wait hungrily in the rivers. Then, in November, when the grazing is finished in the north and the rains resume in the south, the army of animals surges back to the renewed pastures to mate and calve. Only through migration can the herds use the widespread resources of the ecosystem and build up such huge numbers.
many of these migratory species are threatened by the spread of human civilization, which increasingly encroaches upon their habitat and sometimes blocks access to the routes that species may have used for thousands of years. Additionally, humans sometimes compete with migratory animals for food or water sources, or destroy them through development.Cause extinction like migratory passenger pigeonsSeverely reduces and damages important ecosystemsRead more: http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/great-migrations-science#ixzz17k5yXrk6Human Footprint Map Nasa Earth Observatory and Columbia University’s Last of the Wild Project: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=3254
Columbia University’s The Last of the Wild project: http://www.ciesin.columbia.edu/wild_areas/#
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