Basic research and vet screening
Newsletter 24/06/2016
A meeting in Vienna on June 2 marked the start of a new, interdisciplinary research project with the Bald Ibis in the context of the human-led migration. It aims to continue a series of highly successful data collections and publications. Since 2014, there have been a series of publications in high-ranking scientific journals, up to a cover story in NATURE, covering topics like the function, energetics, physiology and dynamics of bird flight. A quote list can be found at the bottom.
The basic research was also of direct benefit for the implementation of the species conservation project. It led among other things to a much more sophisticated understanding of the migration flight of Northern Bald Ibises and thus to a very far-reaching optimization of the human-led migration.
One consequence of basic research is a continuous, very comprehensive veterinary screening of the entire released population in cooperation with the Veterinary University of Vienna, directed by Dr. Alexandra Scope. This screening goes far beyond the usual standard for conservation projects and the required scope demanded in the IUCN Reintroduction Guidelines.
According to the current screening both the wild population and the human-raised 32 young birds are healthy and vital. In addition to the indigenous bacterial flora also potentially pathogenic bacteria are regularly detected, esp. Escherichia, Clostridium and Campylobacter. Apparently, they have no clinical significance for the birds, indicating a commensalistic coexistence of these bacteria with their hosts. This indicates a vital immune system what is essential in the context of the reintroduction.
The new research project, in addition to the continuation and evaluation of veterinary screenings, aims for a differentiated assessment of physiological adaptation and the hormonal regulation of migration flights. Data collections will again be carried out mainly in the context of the human-led migration. Various institutes at the Veterinary University and the University of Vienna are involved.
Portugal SJ, Hubel TY, Fritz J, Heese S, Trobe D, Voelkl B, Hailes S, Wilson AM & Usherwood JR 2014. Upwash exploitation and downwash avoidance by flap phasing in ibis formation flight. Nature, 505, 399-402.
Voelkl B, Portugal SJ, Unsöld M, Usherwood JR, Wilson AM & Fritz J 2015. Matching times of leading and following suggest cooperation through direct reciprocity during V-formation flight in ibis. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 112/7, 2115–2120.
Bairlein F, Fritz J, Scope A, Schwendenwein I, Stanclova G, van Dijk G, Meijer HAJ, Verhulst S & Dittami J 2015. Energy Expenditure and Metabolic Changes of Free-Flying Migrating Northern Bald Ibis. PLoS ONE 10(9): e0134433.
Click here to get to our Newsletter archive.
