Lecture 9 and 10

Question 1

What are the largest and smallest bird species that migrate?

Answer 1

Largest- whooper swan

Smallest- hummingbirds

Question 2

What are the methods of migration?

Answer 2

. Non-stop: leave summer breeding area and don’t stop on way to the winter grounds
. Use of stop-over (re-fuelling) sites: more common, smaller chunks

Question 3

What do all migrating birds require to complete their trips?

Answer 3

Energy stores

Question 4

Give an example of a species of migrating bird that stops off?

Answer 4

Barnacle geese
Breed in Stelbard
Migration down the coast of Norway and across the North Sea
End up in Holy Island or Caleverock (the UK)
The big stop off point is bear island before they make their big movement

Question 5

Describe the migration of bar-tailed godwit

Answer 5

. Winter in New Zealand
. Breeds in Alaska. So, has the Pacific Ocean in between
. Flies to Japan and then across to Alaska
. Cannot land on water (whopper swans can)
. Between 17th-25th March
. 6,500 miles non-stop
. Stops off in Japan
. Does another 4,500 miles non-stop
. On the Alaska to New Zealand migration
. 7,200 miles without a break

Question 6

How do we know when tracking bar-tailed godwits that they are flying non-stop?

Answer 6

Because of the speed they are flying

Question 7

Give an example of a migrating bird species that does not stop off

Answer 7

Beijing Cuckoo
Goes across the Indian sea non- stop and without landing on water

(The bar-tailed Godwit are also an example of a non-stop species)

Question 8

Give an example of a migratory species of bird that has a very extreme migration

Answer 8

. Bar-headed geese
. Go from sea level India
. Then across the Himalayas to get to their breeding grounds in Mongolia
. Go to at least 5,000 metres which is an extreme altitude change

Question 9

What is migration?

Answer 9

. Persistent prolonged movement (whether they stop or not)
. Straightened course of movement- around the breeding areas there is lots of movement, lots of changes in direction but when it comes to migration it is pretty much a straight line movement
. Undistracted by usual stimuli (e.g. food, mates)
. Distinct departure and arrival behaviour
. Reallocation of energy in advance of migration-inter fuel stores to fuel migration

Question 10

What is migration physiology?

Answer 10

. Migration involves many physiological changes
. Exercise physiology
- metabolic rate twice those achievable by mammals of similar size -> high intensity exercise
- up to 11 days without stopping to rest (m
- migrants are extreme endurance athletes
. Also endocrine system, biological clocks m, navigation mechanisms, specialised structures

Question 11

What is bird morphology based around?

Answer 11

It’s requirement for flight (birds are pretty much the same, body shapes are that different because of the constraint to fly)

Question 12

How is bird morphology adapted for flight?

Answer 12

. Reduced numbers of bones (light)
. Pneumatisation: Hollow- as spaces extend into the bone (string and light)
. Provision of a keep on the sternum for attachment of the flight muscles

Question 13

Which of the supracoracoideus and pectoralis is involved in the up of downstroke and why are they different in size?

Answer 13

. Pectoralis used for the downstroke (power)
. Supracoracoideus is used for the upstroke (recovery)
. Supracoracoideus tends to be smaller because gravity helps here

Question 14

What is ‘power input’?

Answer 14

The ‘power output’ is the mechanical power required for flight

Question 15

What is the ‘power input’?

Answer 15

The ‘power input’ is the metabolic power spent during fight e.g. the power that the animal has to supply to cover the mechanical costs- so its metabolic rate during flight.

(So, the power it has to produce in order to fly)

Question 16

Why does the power input always exceed that of the power output?

Answer 16

Because no system is 100% efficient

Question 17

What is the size of the pectoralis linked to?

Answer 17

The weight of the bird

(Flight muscle and body mass tend to be related

Question 18

What does the percentage of body mass that are flight muscles depend on?

Answer 18

The ecology of the animal- how much flying does it need to do

Question 19

What makes up the metabolic rate of a bird?

Answer 19

. The power output (= the physical force needed to remain airborne)
. Power input (= energy that the bird needs to use to fuel flight- efficiency of muscles)

Question 20

What becomes a component of flight as you increase in speed?

Answer 20

. Air speed

. Drag

Question 21

What is ‘wing drag’?

Answer 21

Is the cost of moving the wing through the air

Question 22

What is vortex drag?

Answer 22

The way birds are able to fly is that they produce rings of air from the tips of their wings (vortices), is where the power comes from

Question 23

How does vortex drag change with speed?

Answer 23

Decreases as speed increases

Question 24

What can you do if you can overcome drag?

Answer 24

Can fly

Question 25

When is flight very costly/ expensive?

Answer 25

. Flying slowly . Hovering . But the faster you go the more power is required so there is a minimum power at a certain flight speed (that will change with different species)

Question 26

What is flight physiology limited by?

Answer 26

The speed in which a bird can flap their wings

Question 27

Why is flight physiology limited by the speed in which a bird can flap their wings?

Answer 27

. The flap is what actually produces the power . There is a minimum frequency and a maximum which decreases as your body size increases . So, a large bird finds it more difficult to flap its wings fast

Question 28

What is the difference in the rate of wing flapping decline in maximum and minimum frequency?

Answer 28

The maximum rate of wing flapping declines at a faster rate than the minimum

Question 29

When does power output increase?

Answer 29

As body mass increases, so the bigger you are the power required to be able to fly increases

Question 30

What is the problem with power output increasing with body mass?

Answer 30

The power available doesn’t increase at the same level there comes a level when it is not possible to produce sufficient power to overcome the power needed

Question 31

How can you measure the cost of flying?

Answer 31

``` . Metabolic rate . Heart rate . Respiratory frequency . Thermoregulation . Extended flight ```

Question 32

How are wind tunnels more sophisticated than they used to be?

Answer 32

Because they are not just a tunnel that blows wind but in lots you can change the temp in them and tilt the wind tunnel so. At it looks like the bird is ascending, descending or at level flight

Question 33

How does the rate heart of barnacle geese change in a wind tunnel?

Answer 33

The eating rate is about 100 and in the wind tunnel anything around 400-500bpm so 4-5 times that if the resting. Heat rare takes quite a OMG time to get back to resting after flight

Question 34

What will calm a barnacle goose down when in a wind tunnel?

Answer 34

Fly in pairs

Question 35

Flying birds need to increase their rate heart to pump more blood to the muscles when flying. How do they increase this?

Answer 35

Increase the rate of in which they are exchanging air (their respiratory frequency)

Question 36

What is the hottest part of a bird?

Answer 36

Under the wing

Question 37

How do birds get rid of heat under their wing?

Answer 37

They are very spatially feathered so they exposed their skin

Question 38

How do bird feed get rid of heat?

Answer 38

Bc sure they are dangling into the air stream because they are moving at a fast ra which produces convection which allows them to cool down

Question 39

When do the ambient temperature and the body temp have the biggest difference?

Answer 39

At higher temps

Question 40

Why is thermoregulation important in flying birds?

Answer 40

Because it is another aspect of flying and flying at different temperatures, water loss because animals need to maintain a their water balance

Question 41

As birds are flying they are metabolising substrate, what does this release?

Answer 41

Water

Question 42

When migrating how do some birds maintain their water balance?

Answer 42

By flying at night

Question 43

What is the ratio of CO2 production to oxygen consumption known as?

Answer 43

The respiratory quotient

Question 44

What fuels short-term energy?

Answer 44

Carbohydrates

Question 45

What fuels long-term energy? (Fuels long-term flight/ lone duration flight)

Answer 45

Fats

Question 46

Give the adaptions for flight not structural adaptions

Answer 46

. Highly developed cerebellum . Magnetoreception . Baroreception

Question 47

Give the metabolic fuels birds

Answer 47

. Carbohydrate (mostly glucose) owe stores was glucose in the liver and muscle (

Question 48

Where are carbohydrates (metabolic fuel used in the first bit of exercise) stored?

Answer 48

Stored as glycogen in liver and muscle

Question 49

How is the metabolic fuel protein stored?

Answer 49

Has no storage form apart from as tissue, it is all functional (enzymes, transporters, structural)

Question 50

How is the metabolic fuel fat stored?

Answer 50

As triacylglycerol in adipose and muscle

Question 51

What are the limitations to storing metabolic fuels in muscle?

Answer 51

Want as much as possible to be there because that is the quickest you can get the fuel to the mitochondria to fuel the muscle

Question 52

What are the metabolic fuels?

Answer 52

. Carbohydrate (mostly glucose) . Protein . Fat

Question 53

What is exercise physiology?

Answer 53

The movement of oxygen and substrate to the muscle mitochondria

Question 54

What is mammals main store for in their exercise physiology?

Answer 54

Mammals use substantial intracellular glycogen (and lipid) stores

Question 55

What metabolic fuel is used in the first bit of exercise?

Answer 55

Carbohydrates

Question 56

In mammals what happens to the metabolic fuel use as the intensity of exercise increases?

Answer 56

The fat stores decrease as the intensity of the exercise increases but it switches over to carbohydrate metabolism

Question 57

in exercise in mammals what does “carb loading” by human endurance athletes do?

Answer 57

Fills intramuscular and liver glycogen stores

Question 58

In exercise the in mammals what is happening when an athlete “hits the wall”?

Answer 58

Occurs when glycogen stores are exhausted. Only fat is left and can only undertake fat at low intensity exerciseis possible

Question 59

What metabolic fuels are used during exercise is birds?

Answer 59

. Birds can’t afford to “hit the wall” but still need to be able to produce enough power needed to stay airborne . So, carbohydrates are used up and proteins we cant store. So, carbohydrate oxidation is taken but it is used up very quickly so fat oxidation is what takes over the production of energy

Question 60

What is the energy density (kJg^-1) dry mass, water content (%), energy density (kJg^-1), metabolic water production (g H2O. g dry matter^-1) and the total water production (g H2O. g wet tissue^-1) of the fuel store glycogen?

Answer 60

``` . Energy density dry mass: 17.5 . Water content: 75-80 . Energy density wet mass: 3.5-4.4 . Metabolic water production: 0.556 . Total water production: 0.89-0.91 ```

Question 61

What is the energy density (kJ^-1), water content (%), energy density (kJ^-1) wet mass, metabolic water production (g H2O. g dry matter ^-1), total water production (g H2O. g wet tissue ^-1) of the fuel story lipids?

Answer 61

``` . Energy density dry mass: 39.6 . Water content: 5 . Energy density wet mass: 5.3 . Metabolic water production: 1.05 . Total water production: 1.10 ``` (Lipids produce 7-10 times as much energy per g as glycogen or protein)

Question 62

What is the energy density (kJg^-1) dry mass, water content (%), energy density (kJ g^-1) wet mass, metabolic water production (g H2O. g dry matter ^-1) and total water production (g H2O. g wet tissue^-1) of the fuel store protein?

Answer 62

``` . Energy density (kJg^-1) dry mass: 17.8 . Water content: 70 . Energy density wet mass: 5.3 . Metabolic water production: 0.39 . Total water production: 0.82 ```

Question 63

How much more energy per gram does fat store than protein or glycogen? Why is this?

Answer 63

10x more because of the water content

Question 64

What are the benefits of metabolising glycogen?

Answer 64

It has a lot of water associated with it so it releases a lot of water

Question 65

What is the problem with using lipids?

Answer 65

They are associated with very little water so don’t release a lot of water

Question 66

The actual water production through metabolising fat and glycogen are not that much different. So, in terms of which substrate to use were just thinking about energy which is the preferred fuel source?

Answer 66

Fats and produce just as much water when metabolising fat as you do metabolising glycogen

Question 67

Body mass used during migration varies between species. What percentage of body mass is lost in the bar-tailed godwit, the red know and the golden plover?

Answer 67

Godwit: loses about 50% of its body weight during migration Red knot: about: 35% Golden plover: 25%

Question 68

Godwits our on about 200g of fuel before migration and lists about 50%, why is this?

Answer 68

This is because it costs to carry the extra fat do you need a high metabolic rate to carry it

Question 69

More weight= more lower need to carry the extra fat if migrating birds. So, what do you need to be able to carry this extra fat?

Answer 69

Need bigger pectoral and supercoracoidal muscles to carry it (So bigger and more efficient muscles needed for birds that put on more weight as more power is needed to be produced in order to carry the extra load)

Question 70

What is phenotypic plasticity in migratory birds? And what should the individuals that overtake it have?

Answer 70

Is that they get around the limitations of how big the animals are by changing their body form, is the ability of animals to change certain components. So, the individuals that can overtake it should have some evolutionary advantage and it may be crucial for individuals to survive so they are more likely to pass on their genes, so the ability will be passed to the next generation

Question 71

Give an overview of phenotypic plasticity (what induces it and why? Give an example)

Answer 71

. Different environments can directly induce changes in an individuals behaviour, morphology and physiology . This plasticity is adaptive, in that individuals that show a plastic response have higher fitness than those that do not . May be crucial for individuals to survive . Organ changes during migration are an example of phenotypic plasticity

Question 72

What happens to the pectoral muscle as the body mass increases?

Answer 72

The pectoral muscle increases as the body mass does

Question 73

How much do golden plovers increase their mass by prior to migration?

Answer 73

Increase by 40 g (~25% of body mass)

Question 74

How do golden plovers alter their fuel stores in autumn and spring?

Answer 74

Autumn- puts on fat and gets to its wintering site having used up all that fat Spring- protein. But on the return journey it does put some fat on but also puts a lot of protein on and that it because when these birds return to the artic they have no control over what is going to be their when they arrive, and the insects which is why they have gone their may not have occurred so the food that is available to them are things like berries which are protein poor so these animals have to take that with them