Migratory Animals Couple Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning Worldwide

Background Every year, billions of migratory animals cross the planet in pursuit of increased foraging opportunities, improved safety, and higher reproductive output. In so doing, these migrants transport nutrients, energy, and other organisms (including seeds, mollusks, parasites, and pathogens) between disparate locations. Migrants also forage and are preyed upon throughout their journeys, thereby establishing transport and trophic interactions with resident communities. Migratory animals thus couple ecological communities across the globe and may mediate their diversity and stability. However, as yet, the influence of migrants and their services on these communities is often overlooked, and as a consequence…