Science at UM [S04-ep22]: The migration routes of seabirds
This week on A l’UM la science, Marie-Morgane Rouyer, a doctoral student at Cefe, reveals the migratory routes of seabirds. Louise Nyssen, co-director ofIres, shows us how to manipulate math, and the pharmacy students' association invites us to visit a giant colon. The program airs every Wednesday at 6 p.m. on Divergence.
From November to March, they gather at dawn in the Scamandre reed beds to watch the cranes take flight from their roosts and head for their feeding grounds. They have barely four months before these famous migratory birds, increasingly numerous in the Camargue during winter, return to Northern Europe to breed. They are undoubtedly the same birds that, from April onwards, wander around with their noses in the air, hoping to catch a glimpse of that little black flash that signals the return of the swallows.
Summer teals, purple herons, lesser kestrels—migratory birds hold a certain fascination for us that can easily be attributed to the mysteries and ever-renewed magic of their eternal returns. While the migratory routes of land and coastal birds have long been relatively well known to researchers and naturalists, the same cannot be said for seabirds and their great intercontinental odysseys.
However, it is high time that our conservation policies took a greater interest in the fate of these great migratory species, which are often classified as endangered. To provide a framework for international cooperation, researchers have mapped and identified six marine migration routes across the world's oceans. Marie-Morgane Rouyer participated in this unprecedented inter-species study. We already welcomed her two years ago when she returned from COP 15 on biodiversity, and she is now continuing her thesis at Cefe, the Center for Functional and Evolutionary Ecology. A study published in Global Ecology and Biogeography.
In the second part of the program, we continue our immersion atIRES, the Institute for Research in Science Education, which aims to bridge the gap between research activities and secondary education. This time, we focus on mathematics with Louise Nyssen, its co-director and specialist in number theory at Imag. She offers us a unique approach: math that can be manipulated, interlocked, and cut up, with surprising results designed to capture the attention of young children.
Finally, our last-minute guest is Leonardo Zezza, vice president in charge of social affairs and public health at the Montpellier Pharmacy Students' Association. He introduces us to the Colon Tour, which will be stopping tomorrow between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. on the Pharmacy campus.
Read:
- The study: Global Marine Flyways Identified for Long-Distance Migrating Seabirds From Tracking Data, February 16, 2025.
Listen:
- Science Amuses Itself, From the Migration of Seabirds to the Movements of the Earth, 2021
- Science at UM, From COP15 to the Science Bar, 2023
At UM Science, you have the program, so let's get started!
Co-production: Divergence FM / University of Montpellier
Host: Lucie Lecherbonnier
Interview: Lucie Lecherbonnier / Aline Périault
Reporting and editing: Aline Périault / Lucie Lecherbonnier
Production: Robin Laillou
Listen to the program “A l’UM la science” on Divergence FM 93.9
