Differences in on-ground and aloft conditions explain seasonally different migration paths in Demoiselle crane

Table 1 Results of linear mixed effect models testing how conditions aloft (wind support and thermal uplift) and on-ground (temperature and NDVI) compare between reverse simulated migration and actual migratory conditions during both outbound and inbound migration

Dependent variable	Comparison (sample size, n)	Route comparison	Simulated—Actual
Dependent variable	Comparison (sample size, n)	Route comparison	Estimate	Std. Error	t	p value
Wind support	sim. outb (n = 2779) – act. outb (n = 2315)	N-S	− 1.94	0.69	− 2.82	< 0.05
Wind support	sim. inb (n = 2279) – act. inb (n = 2818)	S–N	0.04	0.52	0.08	0.94
Thermal uplift	sim. outb (n = 1174) – act. outb (n = 2054)	N-S	− 0.38	0.07	− 5.26	< 0.01
Thermal uplift	sim. inb (n = 1238) – act. inb (n = 2171)	S–N	0.17	0.08	2.05	0.07
Temperature	sim. outb (n = 18,831) – act. outb (n = 19,349)	N-S	− 8.26	2.85	− 2.90	< 0.05
Temperature	sim. inb (n = 19,349) – act. inb (n = 18,313)	S–N	− 0.02	2.73	− 0.01	0.99
NDVI	sim. outb (n = 18,416) – act. outb (n = 18,669)	N-S	− 0.03	0.02	− 1.73	0.10
NDVI	sim. inb (n = 18,201) – act. inb (n = 19,207)	S–N	− 0.12	0.03	− 3.68	< 0.01

Positive estimates indicate that the values are higher during reverse simulated migration, while negative estimates indicate they are higher during actual migration. The capital letter N denotes the northern route, while S denotes the southern route, crossing the Himalayas

ISSN: 2051-3933