title: Grand challenges in migration biology.
abstract: Billions of animals migrate each year. To successfully reach their destination, migrants must have evolved an appropriate genetic program and suitable developmental, morphological, physiological, biomechanical, behavioral, and life-history traits. Moreover, they must interact successfully with biotic and abiotic factors in their environment. Migration therefore provides an excellent model system in which to address several of the "grand challenges" in organismal biology. Previous research on migration, however, has often focused on a single aspect of the phenomenon, largely due to methodological, geographical, or financial constraints. Integrative migration biology asks 'big questions' such as how, when, where, and why animals migrate, which can be answered by examining the process from multiple ecological and evolutionary perspectives, incorporating multifaceted knowledge from various other scientific disciplines, and using new technologies and modeling approaches, all within the context of an annual cycle. Adopting an integrative research strategy will provide a better understanding of the interactions between biological levels of organization, of what role migrants play in disease transmission, and of how to conserve migrants and the habitats upon which they depend.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Theoretical Ecology, Ecology Building, Lund University, Lund, Sweden 22362. melissabowlin@gmail.com
authors.forename: Melissa S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Bowlin
authors.forename: Isabelle-Anne
authors.initials: IA
authors.lastname: Bisson
authors.forename: Judy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shamoun-Baranes
authors.forename: Jonathan D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Reichard
authors.forename: Nir
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sapir
authors.forename: Peter P
authors.initials: PP
authors.lastname: Marra
authors.forename: Thomas H
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Kunz
authors.forename: David S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Wilcove
authors.forename: Anders
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hedenström
authors.forename: Christopher G
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Guglielmo
authors.forename: Susanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Åkesson
authors.forename: Marilyn
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ramenofsky
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wikelski
mesh_terms: D025041:Animal Migration / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D004463:Ecology; D017753:Ecosystem; D004777:Environment; D016678:Genome / Q000502:physiology; D010641:Phenotype