title: Pigeons home faster through polluted air.
abstract: Air pollution, especially haze pollution, is creating health issues for both humans and other animals. However, remarkably little is known about how animals behaviourally respond to air pollution. We used multiple linear regression to analyse 415 pigeon races in the North China Plain, an area with considerable air pollution, and found that while the proportion of pigeons successfully homed was not influenced by air pollution, pigeons homed faster when the air was especially polluted. Our results may be explained by an enhanced homing motivation and possibly an enriched olfactory environment that facilitates homing. Our study provides a unique example of animals' response to haze pollution; future studies are needed to identify proposed mechanisms underlying this effect.
authors.affiliation: School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210023, China.|Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, 621 Young Drive South, Los Angeles, 90095-1606, USA.
authors.forename: Zhongqiu
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, 621 Young Drive South, Los Angeles, 90095-1606, USA.|Center for Tropical Research, Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, La Kretz Hall, University of California Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.|Ecologie, Systématique &Evolution, UMR CNRS 8079, Univ. Paris-Sud, Orsay Cedex, 91405, France.
authors.forename: Franck
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Courchamp
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, 621 Young Drive South, Los Angeles, 90095-1606, USA.
authors.forename: Daniel T
authors.initials: DT
authors.lastname: Blumstein
mesh_terms: D000393:Air Pollutants; D000397:Air Pollution; D000818:Animals; D010856:Columbidae; D004777:Environment; D006702:Homing Behavior; D016014:Linear Models; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants