Data from: Commuting fruit bats beneficially modulate their flight in relation to wind
Data from: Commuting fruit bats beneficially modulate their flight in relation to wind
Citation
Dechmann DKN, Fahr J, Wikelski M. 2014. Data from: Commuting fruit bats beneficially modulate their flight in relation to wind. Movebank Data Repository. https://doi.org/10.5441/001/1.62s17b4vAbstract
NOTE: An updated and larger version of this dataset is available. See https://doi.org/10.5441/001/1.k8n02jn8. ABSTRACT: When animals move, their tracks may be strongly influenced by the motion of air or water, and this may affect the speed, energetics and prospects of the journey. Flying organisms, such as bats, may thus benefit from modifying their flight in response to the wind vector. Yet, practical difficulties have so far limited the understanding of this response for free-ranging bats. We tracked nine straw-coloured fruit bats (Eidolon helvum) that flew 42.5+17.5km (mean + s.d.) to and from their roost near Accra, Ghana. Following detailed atmospheric simulations, we found that bats compensated for wind drift, as predicted under constant winds, and decreased their airspeed in response to tailwind assistance such that their groundspeed remained nearly constant. In addition, bats increased their airspeed with increasing crosswind speed. Overall, bats modulated their airspeed in relation to wind speed at different wind directions in a manner predicted by a two-dimensional optimal movement model. We conclude that sophisticated behavioural mechanisms to minimize the cost of transport under various wind conditions have evolved in bats. The bats’ response to the wind is similar to that reported for migratory birds and insects, suggesting convergent evolution of flight behaviours in volant organisms.
Keywords
Eidolon helvum, Eidolon helvum, flight behaviour, fruit bats
DOIs of related Publications
BibTex
@misc{001/1_62s17b4v, title = {Data from: Commuting fruit bats beneficially modulate their flight in relation to wind}, author = {Dechmann, DKN and Fahr, J and Wikelski, M}, year = {2014}, URL = {http://dx.doi.org/10.5441/001/1.62s17b4v}, doi = {doi:10.5441/001/1.62s17b4v}, publisher = {Movebank data repository} }
RIS
TY - DATA ID - doi:10.5441/001/1.62s17b4v T1 - Data from: Commuting fruit bats beneficially modulate their flight in relation to wind AU - Dechmann, Dina K.N. AU - Fahr, Jakob AU - Wikelski, Martin Y1 - 2014/03/18 KW - Eidolon helvum KW - animal tracking KW - Eidolon helvum KW - flight behaviour KW - fruit bats KW - Eidolon helvum PB - Movebank data repository UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.5441/001/1.62s17b4v DO - doi:10.5441/001/1.62s17b4v ER -