Tipping back the balance: recolonization of the Macquarie Island isthmus by king penguins ( Aptenodytes patagonicus ) following extermination for human gain
Abstract During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when blubber oil fuelled house lamps, the king penguin population at Macquarie Island was reduced from two very large (perhaps hundreds of thousands of birds) colonies to about 3000 birds. One colony, located on the isthmus when the island was...
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Cambridge University Press (CUP)
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0954102009001898 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0954102009001898 |
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crcambridgeupr:10.1017/s0954102009001898 2024-03-03T08:39:29+00:00 Tipping back the balance: recolonization of the Macquarie Island isthmus by king penguins ( Aptenodytes patagonicus ) following extermination for human gain van den Hoff, John McMahon, Clive R. Field, Iain 2009 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0954102009001898 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0954102009001898 en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms Antarctic Science volume 21, issue 3, page 237-241 ISSN 0954-1020 1365-2079 Geology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics Oceanography journal-article 2009 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/s0954102009001898 2024-02-08T08:47:57Z Abstract During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when blubber oil fuelled house lamps, the king penguin population at Macquarie Island was reduced from two very large (perhaps hundreds of thousands of birds) colonies to about 3000 birds. One colony, located on the isthmus when the island was discovered in 1810, was extinct by 1894 and it took about 100 years for king penguins to re-establish a viable breeding population there. Here we document this recovery. The first eggs laid at Gadget Gully on the isthmus were recorded in late February 1995 but in subsequent years egg laying took place earlier between November and February (this temporal discontinuity is a consequence of king penguin breeding behaviour). The first chick was hatched in April 1995 but the first fledging was not raised until the following breeding season in October 1996. The colony increased on average 66% per annum in the five years between 1995 and 2000. King penguins appear resilient to catastrophic population reductions, and as the island's population increases, it is likely that other previously abandoned breeding sites will be reoccupied. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarctic Science King Penguins Macquarie Island Cambridge University Press Antarctic Science 21 3 237 241 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Cambridge University Press |
op_collection_id |
crcambridgeupr |
language |
English |
topic |
Geology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics Oceanography |
spellingShingle |
Geology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics Oceanography van den Hoff, John McMahon, Clive R. Field, Iain Tipping back the balance: recolonization of the Macquarie Island isthmus by king penguins ( Aptenodytes patagonicus ) following extermination for human gain |
topic_facet |
Geology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics Oceanography |
description |
Abstract During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when blubber oil fuelled house lamps, the king penguin population at Macquarie Island was reduced from two very large (perhaps hundreds of thousands of birds) colonies to about 3000 birds. One colony, located on the isthmus when the island was discovered in 1810, was extinct by 1894 and it took about 100 years for king penguins to re-establish a viable breeding population there. Here we document this recovery. The first eggs laid at Gadget Gully on the isthmus were recorded in late February 1995 but in subsequent years egg laying took place earlier between November and February (this temporal discontinuity is a consequence of king penguin breeding behaviour). The first chick was hatched in April 1995 but the first fledging was not raised until the following breeding season in October 1996. The colony increased on average 66% per annum in the five years between 1995 and 2000. King penguins appear resilient to catastrophic population reductions, and as the island's population increases, it is likely that other previously abandoned breeding sites will be reoccupied. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
van den Hoff, John McMahon, Clive R. Field, Iain |
author_facet |
van den Hoff, John McMahon, Clive R. Field, Iain |
author_sort |
van den Hoff, John |
title |
Tipping back the balance: recolonization of the Macquarie Island isthmus by king penguins ( Aptenodytes patagonicus ) following extermination for human gain |
title_short |
Tipping back the balance: recolonization of the Macquarie Island isthmus by king penguins ( Aptenodytes patagonicus ) following extermination for human gain |
title_full |
Tipping back the balance: recolonization of the Macquarie Island isthmus by king penguins ( Aptenodytes patagonicus ) following extermination for human gain |
title_fullStr |
Tipping back the balance: recolonization of the Macquarie Island isthmus by king penguins ( Aptenodytes patagonicus ) following extermination for human gain |
title_full_unstemmed |
Tipping back the balance: recolonization of the Macquarie Island isthmus by king penguins ( Aptenodytes patagonicus ) following extermination for human gain |
title_sort |
tipping back the balance: recolonization of the macquarie island isthmus by king penguins ( aptenodytes patagonicus ) following extermination for human gain |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
2009 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0954102009001898 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0954102009001898 |
genre |
Antarctic Science King Penguins Macquarie Island |
genre_facet |
Antarctic Science King Penguins Macquarie Island |
op_source |
Antarctic Science volume 21, issue 3, page 237-241 ISSN 0954-1020 1365-2079 |
op_rights |
https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/s0954102009001898 |
container_title |
Antarctic Science |
container_volume |
21 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
237 |
op_container_end_page |
241 |
_version_ |
1792495042774958080 |