Receding ice drove parallel expansions in Southern Ocean penguins

• Published in: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
• Main Authors: Cole, Theresa, Dutoit, Ludovic, Dussex, Nicolas, Hart, Tom, Alexander, Alana, Younger, Jane, Clucas, Gemma, Frugone, María José, Cherel, Yves, Cuthbert, Richard, Ellenberg, Ursula, Fiddaman, Steven, Hiscock, Johanna, Houston, David, Jouventin, Pierre, Mattern, Thomas, Miller, Gary, Miskelly, Colin, Nolan, Paul, Polito, Michael, Quillfeldt, Petra, Ryan, Peter, Smith, Adrian, Tennyson, Alan, Thompson, David, Wienecke, Barbara, Vianna, Juliana, Waters, Jonathan
• Other Authors: Department of Zoology, University of Otago Dunedin, Nouvelle-Zélande, Department of Bioinformatics and Genetics Stockholm, Sweden, Swedish Museum of Natural History, Stockholm, Department of Zoology Oxford, University of Oxford Oxford, Department of Anatomy Dunedin, New Zealand, Milner Centre for Evolution, University of Bath Bath, Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future and Cornell Lab of Ornithology USA, Cornell University New York, Laboratorio de Ecología Molecular, Departamento de Ciencias Ecológicas Chile, Universidad de Chile, 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), RSPB Centre for Conservation Science, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, Global Penguin Society and Department of Ecology Australia, La Trobe University Melbourne, Department of Zoology, Peter Medawar Building for Pathogen Research UK, Department of Conservation Invercargill, New Zealand, Murikihu District Office, Biodiversity Group, Department of Conservation New Zealand, Centre d’Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive (CEFE), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-École pratique des hautes études (EPHE), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Centre international d'études supérieures en sciences agronomiques (Montpellier SupAgro)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Université Paul-Valéry - Montpellier 3 (UPVM)-Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier (Montpellier SupAgro), Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement (Institut Agro)-Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement (Institut Agro)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD France-Sud ), Division of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Australia, The University of Western Australia (UWA), Museum of New Zealand - Te Papa Tongarewa, Department of Biology, The Citadel Charleston, UK, Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences, Louisiana State University (LSU), Department of Animal Ecology and Systematics, Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen (JLU), FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town-DST-NRF Centre of Excellence, National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research Wellington (NIWA), Australian Antarctic Division (AAD), Australian Government, Department of the Environment and Energy, Departamento de Ecosistemas y Medio Ambiente Chile, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (UC)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2019
• Subjects: [SDE]Environmental Sciences; Antarctic; Southern Ocean; Antarc*; Antarctica; Sea ice
• Online Access: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02420837; https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1904048116

International audience Climate shifts are key drivers of ecosystem change. Despite the critical importance of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean for global climate, the extent of climate-driven ecological change in this region remains controversial. In particular, the biological effects of changing sea ice conditions are poorly understood. We hypothesize that rapid postglacial reductions in sea ice drove biological shifts across multiple widespread Southern Ocean species. We test for demographic shifts driven by climate events over recent millennia by analyzing population genomic datasets spanning 3 penguin genera ( Eudyptes , Pygoscelis , and Aptenodytes ). Demographic analyses for multiple species (macaroni/royal, eastern rockhopper, Adélie, gentoo, king, and emperor) currently inhabiting southern coastlines affected by heavy sea ice conditions during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) yielded genetic signatures of near-simultaneous population expansions associated with postglacial warming. Populations of the ice-adapted emperor penguin are inferred to have expanded slightly earlier than those of species requiring ice-free terrain. These concerted high-latitude expansion events contrast with relatively stable or declining demographic histories inferred for 4 penguin species (northern rockhopper, western rockhopper, Fiordland crested, and Snares crested) that apparently persisted throughout the LGM in ice-free habitats. Limited genetic structure detected in all ice-affected species across the vast Southern Ocean may reflect both rapid postglacial colonization of subantarctic and Antarctic shores, in addition to recent genetic exchange among populations. Together, these analyses highlight dramatic, ecosystem-wide responses to past Southern Ocean climate change and suggest potential for further shifts as warming continues.