Variability in sea ice cover and climate elicit sex specific responses in an Antarctic predator

• Published in: Scientific Reports
• Main Authors: Labrousse, Sara, Sallée, Jean-Baptiste, Fraser, Alexander D., Massom, Robert A., Reid, Phillip, Hobbs, William, Guinet, Christophe, Harcourt, Robert G., Mcmahon, Clive R., Authier, Matthieu, Bailleul, Frédéric, Hindell, Mark A., Charrassin, Jean-Benoît
• Other Authors: Laboratoire d'Océanographie et du Climat : Expérimentations et Approches Numériques (LOCEAN), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Institut Pierre-Simon-Laplace (IPSL (FR_636)), École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS Paris), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-École polytechnique (X)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS Paris), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-École polytechnique (X)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), University of Tasmania Hobart, Australia (UTAS), British Antarctic Survey (BAS), Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), Hokkaido University Sapporo, Japan, Australian Antarctic Division (AAD), Australian Government, Department of the Environment and Energy, Centre for Australian Weather and Climate Research (CAWCR), Australian Research Council (ARC), Centre d'Études Biologiques de Chizé - UMR 7372 (CEBC), Université de La Rochelle (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), Macquarie University, University of Sydney Institute of Marine Science (USIMS), The University of Sydney, Observatoire PELAGIS UMS 3462 (PELAGIS), LIttoral ENvironnement et Sociétés - UMRi 7266 (LIENSs), Université de La Rochelle (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de La Rochelle (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI), South Australian Research and Development Institute, CNES-TOSCA project ("Éléphants de mer océanographes")
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2017
• Subjects: [SDV.EE.BIO]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Ecology; environment/Bioclimatology; [SDU.OCEAN]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Ocean; Atmosphere; Antarctic; Southern Ocean; Antarc*; Elephant Seal; Sea ice; Southern Elephant Seal
• Online Access: https://hal.sorbonne-universite.fr/hal-01496427; https://hal.sorbonne-universite.fr/hal-01496427/document; https://hal.sorbonne-universite.fr/hal-01496427/file/srep43236.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1038/srep43236

International audience Contrasting regional changes in Southern Ocean sea ice have occurred over the last 30 years with distinct regional effects on ecosystem structure and function. Quantifying how Antarctic predators respond to such changes provides the context for predicting how climate variability/change will affect these assemblages into the future. Over an 11-year time-series, we examine how inter-annual variability in sea ice concentration and advance affect the foraging behaviour of a top Antarctic predator, the southern elephant seal. Females foraged longer in pack ice in years with greatest sea ice concentration and earliest sea ice advance, while males foraged longer in polynyas in years of lowest sea ice concentration. There was a positive relationship between near-surface meridional wind anomalies and female foraging effort, but not for males. This study reveals the complexities of foraging responses to climate forcing by a poleward migratory predator through varying sea ice property and dynamic anomalies.