Too much of a good thing: sea ice extent may have forced emperor penguins into refugia during the last glacial maximum

Abstract The relationship between population structure and demographic history is critical to understanding microevolution and for predicting the resilience of species to environmental change. Using mitochondrial DNA from extant colonies and radiocarbon‐dated subfossils, we present the first microev...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Global Change Biology
Main Authors: Younger, Jane L., Clucas, Gemma V., Kooyman, Gerald, Wienecke, Barbara, Rogers, Alex D., Trathan, Philip N., Hart, Tom, Miller, Karen J.
Other Authors: Australian Antarctic Science, ANZ Trustees Holsworth Wildlife Research Endowment, NERC, Penguin Lifelines, British Antarctic Survey Ecosystems Programme, Darwin Initiative
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2015
Subjects:
Kya
Ross Sea
Weddell
Weddell Sea
Antarc*
Antarctica
Aptenodytes forsteri
Emperor penguins
Sea ice
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/gcb.12882
https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fgcb.12882
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/gcb.12882
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Summary:Abstract The relationship between population structure and demographic history is critical to understanding microevolution and for predicting the resilience of species to environmental change. Using mitochondrial DNA from extant colonies and radiocarbon‐dated subfossils, we present the first microevolutionary analysis of emperor penguins ( Aptenodytes forsteri ) and show their population trends throughout the last glacial maximum ( LGM , 19.5–16 kya) and during the subsequent period of warming and sea ice retreat. We found evidence for three mitochondrial clades within emperor penguins, suggesting that they were isolated within three glacial refugia during the LGM . One of these clades has remained largely isolated within the Ross Sea, while the two other clades have intermixed around the coast of Antarctica from Adélie Land to the Weddell Sea. The differentiation of the Ross Sea population has been preserved despite rapid population growth and opportunities for migration. Low effective population sizes during the LGM , followed by a rapid expansion around the beginning of the Holocene, suggest that an optimum set of sea ice conditions exist for emperor penguins, corresponding to available foraging area.

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