| Summary: | Progress Code: completed Statement: The Dates provided in temporal coverage are approximate only, and represent the beginning and end of the 2006 - 2011 Antarctic seasons. The latitudes and longitudes provided in spatial coverage are approximate only. Taken from the 2009-2010 Progress Report: Variations to work plan or objectives: An aerial survey of the Vestfold Hills and Rauer Islands was conducted in November 2009 to collect data on the distribution and abundance of Adelie penguins in the areas around Davis. This supports one of the projects stated goals of expanding the spatial scale of monitoring, and involved taking photographs from a helicopter along pre-defined transects. Counts from aerial photographs will enable an assessment of the current distribution of colonies throughout the Vestfold Hills and Rauer Islands. Density and abundance will also be assessed providing population estimates. Current estimates will be compared with aerial photography through the same region in previous decades, enabling an assessment of changes in the distribution and abundance of the meta-population. Planned ground surveys of islands off Davis were performed in November 2009 (Gardener Island). Aerial photography of the Adelie penguin colonies surveyed from the ground in a small section of Gardner island enabled an assessment of the accuracy of counts gained from both survey methods. Preliminary results from this small trial indicate considerable undercounting from aerial photos, and further assessment of bias may be needed in 2010/11. We propose to expand the snow petrel monitoring program to include (1) measurement of breeding success from mountain sites inland from Mawson, (2) a regional survey of the snow petrel population across the islands in the Kista Strait off Mawson, (3) modifying existing methods of nest checking for improved measurement of breeding success, and (4) identifying the relationship between parental quality and habitat quality. Field work: This season we performed a count of Adelie penguin ...
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