Identifying volatile organic compounds used for olfactory navigation by homing pigeons

Abstract Many bird species have the ability to navigate home after being brought to a remote, even unfamiliar location. Environmental odours have been demonstrated to be critical to homeward navigation in over 40 years of experiments, yet the chemical identity of the odours has remained unknown. In...

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Autores principales:	Nora Zannoni, Martin Wikelski, Anna Gagliardo, Atif Raza, Stefan Kramer, Chiara Seghetti, Nijing Wang, Achim Edtbauer, Jonathan Williams
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2020
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/276a418f45e6446b9edab88745cba8de
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id	oai:doaj.org-article:276a418f45e6446b9edab88745cba8de
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:276a418f45e6446b9edab88745cba8de2021-12-02T18:51:14ZIdentifying volatile organic compounds used for olfactory navigation by homing pigeons10.1038/s41598-020-72525-22045-2322https://doaj.org/article/276a418f45e6446b9edab88745cba8de2020-09-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-72525-2https://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract Many bird species have the ability to navigate home after being brought to a remote, even unfamiliar location. Environmental odours have been demonstrated to be critical to homeward navigation in over 40 years of experiments, yet the chemical identity of the odours has remained unknown. In this study, we investigate potential chemical navigational cues by measuring volatile organic compounds (VOCs): at the birds’ home-loft; in selected regional forest environments; and from an aircraft at 180 m. The measurements showed clear regional, horizontal and vertical spatial gradients that can form the basis of an olfactory map for marine emissions (dimethyl sulphide, DMS), biogenic compounds (terpenoids) and anthropogenic mixed air (aromatic compounds), and temporal changes consistent with a sea-breeze system. Air masses trajectories are used to examine GPS tracks from released birds, suggesting that local DMS concentrations alter their flight directions in predictable ways. This dataset reveals multiple regional-scale real-world chemical gradients that can form the basis of an olfactory map suitable for homing pigeons.Nora ZannoniMartin WikelskiAnna GagliardoAtif RazaStefan KramerChiara SeghettiNijing WangAchim EdtbauerJonathan WilliamsNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 10, Iss 1, Pp 1-16 (2020)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Nora Zannoni Martin Wikelski Anna Gagliardo Atif Raza Stefan Kramer Chiara Seghetti Nijing Wang Achim Edtbauer Jonathan Williams Identifying volatile organic compounds used for olfactory navigation by homing pigeons
description	Abstract Many bird species have the ability to navigate home after being brought to a remote, even unfamiliar location. Environmental odours have been demonstrated to be critical to homeward navigation in over 40 years of experiments, yet the chemical identity of the odours has remained unknown. In this study, we investigate potential chemical navigational cues by measuring volatile organic compounds (VOCs): at the birds’ home-loft; in selected regional forest environments; and from an aircraft at 180 m. The measurements showed clear regional, horizontal and vertical spatial gradients that can form the basis of an olfactory map for marine emissions (dimethyl sulphide, DMS), biogenic compounds (terpenoids) and anthropogenic mixed air (aromatic compounds), and temporal changes consistent with a sea-breeze system. Air masses trajectories are used to examine GPS tracks from released birds, suggesting that local DMS concentrations alter their flight directions in predictable ways. This dataset reveals multiple regional-scale real-world chemical gradients that can form the basis of an olfactory map suitable for homing pigeons.
format	article
author	Nora Zannoni Martin Wikelski Anna Gagliardo Atif Raza Stefan Kramer Chiara Seghetti Nijing Wang Achim Edtbauer Jonathan Williams
author_facet	Nora Zannoni Martin Wikelski Anna Gagliardo Atif Raza Stefan Kramer Chiara Seghetti Nijing Wang Achim Edtbauer Jonathan Williams
author_sort	Nora Zannoni
title	Identifying volatile organic compounds used for olfactory navigation by homing pigeons
title_short	Identifying volatile organic compounds used for olfactory navigation by homing pigeons
title_full	Identifying volatile organic compounds used for olfactory navigation by homing pigeons
title_fullStr	Identifying volatile organic compounds used for olfactory navigation by homing pigeons
title_full_unstemmed	Identifying volatile organic compounds used for olfactory navigation by homing pigeons
title_sort	identifying volatile organic compounds used for olfactory navigation by homing pigeons
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2020
url	https://doaj.org/article/276a418f45e6446b9edab88745cba8de
work_keys_str_mv	AT norazannoni identifyingvolatileorganiccompoundsusedforolfactorynavigationbyhomingpigeons AT martinwikelski identifyingvolatileorganiccompoundsusedforolfactorynavigationbyhomingpigeons AT annagagliardo identifyingvolatileorganiccompoundsusedforolfactorynavigationbyhomingpigeons AT atifraza identifyingvolatileorganiccompoundsusedforolfactorynavigationbyhomingpigeons AT stefankramer identifyingvolatileorganiccompoundsusedforolfactorynavigationbyhomingpigeons AT chiaraseghetti identifyingvolatileorganiccompoundsusedforolfactorynavigationbyhomingpigeons AT nijingwang identifyingvolatileorganiccompoundsusedforolfactorynavigationbyhomingpigeons AT achimedtbauer identifyingvolatileorganiccompoundsusedforolfactorynavigationbyhomingpigeons AT jonathanwilliams identifyingvolatileorganiccompoundsusedforolfactorynavigationbyhomingpigeons
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Identifying volatile organic compounds used for olfactory navigation by homing pigeons

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