PhD Student Offers New Perspective into Altitudinal Migration

Migration is often referred to as birds flying south to escape the winter, but a lesser-known form of migration, called altitudinal migration, involves animals moving between elevations, such as from a mountain to a valley, based on the season.

David Vander Pluym, a PhD candidate at LSU working in Dr. Nicholas Mason's lab, has published the first chapter of his dissertation which offers new insights into this phenomenon. His research focuses on how altitudinal migration contributes to bird diversity.

"Studying altitudinal migration pulls together my love of mountains and my interest in understanding how this movement leads or doesn’t lead, to the diversity we see in species," Vander Pluym said.

Vander Pluym's work centers on a widespread neotropical songbird. Previous work suggests that while some populations of this bird species migrate between different elevations, others do not. His research aims to uncover how these differences in movement contribute to species diversification.

Additionally, Vander Pluym is comparing bird migration to migration patterns in other animals. 

"Salmon, for example, are considered altitudinal migrants, but they haven't received much attention in migration literature," he noted.

He hopes his research could provide a comparative framework for scientists studying migration across different species, from birds to rattlesnakes and beyond.