How does coriolis affect animals and plants?

[john2017]

Hey. I was very curious to know, how does Coriolis affect animals and birds. I heard that it affects bird navigation, any insight would be helpful.

Also how does it impact plants? I'm only in gr10, so please simplify it. Thanks

[pavelcherepan]

I'm not entirely certain, but land animals should not experience any effects at all from the Coriolis force. Marine critters, might be affected, but density/temperature driven currents are generally stronger than any Coriolis effects and closer to the surface, wave activity, would be orders of magnitude stronger.

So, to the lack of other options, birds, especially migrating birds and those, like a wandering albatross, who spend most of their time in the air, would be affected by air currents driven by Coriolis force. Flying critters who spend most of their life much closer to the surface, will be, once again, much more strongly affected by temperature-driven air movement.

P.S. Based on Wiki, there is apparently some interesting uses of Coriolis effect by insects. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coriolis_force#Insect_flight

Edited October 17, 2017 by pavelcherepan