Habitat use and sex-specific foraging behaviour of Adélie penguins throughout the breeding season in Adélie Land, East Antarctica
Abstract Background Marine predators are ecosystem sentinels because their foraging behaviour and reproductive success reflect the variability occurring in the lower trophic levels of the ecosystem. In an era of environmental change, monitoring top predators species can provide valuable insights int...
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ftbiomed:oai:biomedcentral.com:s40462-015-0052-7 2023-05-15T13:43:29+02:00 Habitat use and sex-specific foraging behaviour of Adélie penguins throughout the breeding season in Adélie Land, East Antarctica Widmann, Michel Kato, Akiko Raymond, Ben Angelier, Frédéric Arthur, Benjamin Chastel, Olivier Pellé, Marie Raclot, Thierry Ropert-Coudert, Yan 2015-09-21 http://www.movementecologyjournal.com/content/3/1/30 en eng BioMed Central Ltd. http://www.movementecologyjournal.com/content/3/1/30 Copyright 2015 Widmann et al. Adélie penguin Marine Protected Areas Bio-logging Foraging behaviour Sea-ice distribution Polynya Adélie Land Research 2015 ftbiomed 2015-09-27T00:07:44Z Abstract Background Marine predators are ecosystem sentinels because their foraging behaviour and reproductive success reflect the variability occurring in the lower trophic levels of the ecosystem. In an era of environmental change, monitoring top predators species can provide valuable insights into the zones of ecological importance that need to be protected. In this context, we monitored the Adélie penguin ( Pygoscelis adeliae ) as a bio-indicator near Dumont d’Urville, an area of the East Antarctic sector currently being considered for the establishment of a Marine Protected Area (MPA), using GPS-based tracking tags during the 2012/13 austral summer breeding season. Results The habitat use and foraging areas of the penguins differed by breeding stage and sex and were strongly associated with patterns in bathymetry and sea-ice distribution. The first trips, undertaken during the incubation phase, were longer than those during the guard phase and were associated with the northern limit of the sea-ice extent. During the guard phase, birds strongly depended on access to a polynya, a key feature in Antarctic marine ecosystem, in the vicinity of the colony. The opening of the ice-free area was synchronous with the hatching of chicks. Moreover, a sex-specific use of foraging habitat observed only after hatching suggests sex-specific differences in the diet in response to intra-specific competition. Conclusions Sea-ice features that could be affected by the climate change were important factors for the use of foraging habitat by the Adélie penguins. The extent of the foraging area observed in this study is congruent with the area of the proposed MPA. However, both penguin behavior and their environment should be monitored carefully. Other/Unknown Material Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica East Antarctica Pygoscelis adeliae Sea ice BioMed Central Antarctic Austral Dumont d’Urville ENVELOPE(140.000,140.000,-66.667,-66.667) East Antarctica |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
BioMed Central |
op_collection_id |
ftbiomed |
language |
English |
topic |
Adélie penguin Marine Protected Areas Bio-logging Foraging behaviour Sea-ice distribution Polynya Adélie Land |
spellingShingle |
Adélie penguin Marine Protected Areas Bio-logging Foraging behaviour Sea-ice distribution Polynya Adélie Land Widmann, Michel Kato, Akiko Raymond, Ben Angelier, Frédéric Arthur, Benjamin Chastel, Olivier Pellé, Marie Raclot, Thierry Ropert-Coudert, Yan Habitat use and sex-specific foraging behaviour of Adélie penguins throughout the breeding season in Adélie Land, East Antarctica |
topic_facet |
Adélie penguin Marine Protected Areas Bio-logging Foraging behaviour Sea-ice distribution Polynya Adélie Land |
description |
Abstract Background Marine predators are ecosystem sentinels because their foraging behaviour and reproductive success reflect the variability occurring in the lower trophic levels of the ecosystem. In an era of environmental change, monitoring top predators species can provide valuable insights into the zones of ecological importance that need to be protected. In this context, we monitored the Adélie penguin ( Pygoscelis adeliae ) as a bio-indicator near Dumont d’Urville, an area of the East Antarctic sector currently being considered for the establishment of a Marine Protected Area (MPA), using GPS-based tracking tags during the 2012/13 austral summer breeding season. Results The habitat use and foraging areas of the penguins differed by breeding stage and sex and were strongly associated with patterns in bathymetry and sea-ice distribution. The first trips, undertaken during the incubation phase, were longer than those during the guard phase and were associated with the northern limit of the sea-ice extent. During the guard phase, birds strongly depended on access to a polynya, a key feature in Antarctic marine ecosystem, in the vicinity of the colony. The opening of the ice-free area was synchronous with the hatching of chicks. Moreover, a sex-specific use of foraging habitat observed only after hatching suggests sex-specific differences in the diet in response to intra-specific competition. Conclusions Sea-ice features that could be affected by the climate change were important factors for the use of foraging habitat by the Adélie penguins. The extent of the foraging area observed in this study is congruent with the area of the proposed MPA. However, both penguin behavior and their environment should be monitored carefully. |
format |
Other/Unknown Material |
author |
Widmann, Michel Kato, Akiko Raymond, Ben Angelier, Frédéric Arthur, Benjamin Chastel, Olivier Pellé, Marie Raclot, Thierry Ropert-Coudert, Yan |
author_facet |
Widmann, Michel Kato, Akiko Raymond, Ben Angelier, Frédéric Arthur, Benjamin Chastel, Olivier Pellé, Marie Raclot, Thierry Ropert-Coudert, Yan |
author_sort |
Widmann, Michel |
title |
Habitat use and sex-specific foraging behaviour of Adélie penguins throughout the breeding season in Adélie Land, East Antarctica |
title_short |
Habitat use and sex-specific foraging behaviour of Adélie penguins throughout the breeding season in Adélie Land, East Antarctica |
title_full |
Habitat use and sex-specific foraging behaviour of Adélie penguins throughout the breeding season in Adélie Land, East Antarctica |
title_fullStr |
Habitat use and sex-specific foraging behaviour of Adélie penguins throughout the breeding season in Adélie Land, East Antarctica |
title_full_unstemmed |
Habitat use and sex-specific foraging behaviour of Adélie penguins throughout the breeding season in Adélie Land, East Antarctica |
title_sort |
habitat use and sex-specific foraging behaviour of adélie penguins throughout the breeding season in adélie land, east antarctica |
publisher |
BioMed Central Ltd. |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
http://www.movementecologyjournal.com/content/3/1/30 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(140.000,140.000,-66.667,-66.667) |
geographic |
Antarctic Austral Dumont d’Urville East Antarctica |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Austral Dumont d’Urville East Antarctica |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica East Antarctica Pygoscelis adeliae Sea ice |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica East Antarctica Pygoscelis adeliae Sea ice |
op_relation |
http://www.movementecologyjournal.com/content/3/1/30 |
op_rights |
Copyright 2015 Widmann et al. |
_version_ |
1766189590021931008 |