Skip to main content
WCS
Menu
Library
Library Catalog
eJournals & eBooks
WCS Research
Archives
Research Use
Finding Aids
Digital Collections
WCS History
WCS Research
Research Publications
Science Data
Services for WCS Researchers
Archives Shop
Bronx Zoo
Department of Tropical Research
Browse By Product
About Us
FAQs
Intern or Volunteer
Staff
Donate
Search WCS.org
Search
search
Popular Search Terms
WCS History
Library and Archives
Library and Archives Menu
Library
Archives
WCS Research
Archives Shop
About Us
Donate
en
fr
Title
Connecting the dots: An invariant migration corridor links the Holocene to the present
Author(s)
Berger J., Cain S.L., Berger K.M.
Published
2006
Publisher
Biology Letters
Published Version DOI
https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2006.0508
Abstract
Numerous species undergo impressive movements, but due to massive changes in land use, long distance migration in terrestrial vertebrates has become a highly fragile ecological phenomenon. Uncertainty about the locations of past migrations and the importance of current corridors hampers conservation planning. Using archeological data from historic kill sites and modern methods to track migration, we document an invariant, 150 km (one-way) migration corridor used for at least 6000 years by North America's sole extant endemic ungulate. Pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) from the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, like other long distant migrants including Serengeti wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus) and Arctic caribou (Rangifer tarandus), move nearly 50 km d-1, but in contrast to these other species, rely on an invariant corridor averaging only 2 km wide. Because an entire population accesses a national park (Grand Teton) by passage through bottlenecks as narrow as 121 m, any blockage to movement will result in extirpation. Based on animation of real data coupled with the loss of six historic routes, alternative pathways throughout the 60 000 km2 Yellowstone ecosystem are no longer available. Our findings have implications for developing strategies to protect long distance land migrations in Africa, Asia and North America and to prevent the disappearance of ecological phenomena that have operated for millennia. © 2006 The Royal Society.
Keywords
archaeological evidence; endemic species; Holocene; migration; migration route; national park; ruminant; animal experiment; archeology; article; controlled study; ecosystem; Holocene; long distance migrant; migratory species; nonhuman; population migration; priority journal; reindeer; ungulate; Animal Migration; Animals; Conservation of Natural Resources; Ecosystem; Female; Geographic Information Systems; Geography; Ruminants; Time Factors; Wyoming; Grand Teton National Park; Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem; North America; United States; Wyoming; Antilocapra americana; Connochaetes taurinus; Rangifer tarandus; Ungulata; Vertebrata
Access Full Text
A full-text copy of this article may be available. Please email the
WCS Library
to request.
Back
PUB10794