Juvenile emperor penguin range calls for extended conservation measures in the Southern Ocean

To protect the unique Southern Ocean biodiversity, conservation measures like marine protected areas (MPAs) are implemented based on the known habitat distribution of ecologically important species. However, distribution models focus on adults, neglecting that immatures animals can inhabit vastly di...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Houstin, Aymeric, Zitterbart, Daniel, Heerah, Karine, Eisen, Olaf, Planas-Bielsa, Víctor, Fabry, Ben, Le Bohec, Céline
Other Authors: Centre Scientifique de Monaco (CSM), Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), Aarhus University Aarhus, Alfred-Wegener-Institut, Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung (AWI), Biophysics Group Friedrich-Alexander University, Département Ecologie, Physiologie et Ethologie (DEPE-IPHC), Institut Pluridisciplinaire Hubert Curien (IPHC), Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3)-Université de Strasbourg (UNISTRA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3)-Université de Strasbourg (UNISTRA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
Format: Report
Language:English
Published: HAL CCSD 2021
Subjects:
[SDV]Life Sciences [q-bio]
Southern Ocean
Online Access:https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03409950
https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.04.06.438390
Description
Summary:To protect the unique Southern Ocean biodiversity, conservation measures like marine protected areas (MPAs) are implemented based on the known habitat distribution of ecologically important species. However, distribution models focus on adults, neglecting that immatures animals can inhabit vastly different areas. Here, we show that current conservation efforts in the Southern Ocean are insufficient for ensuring the protection of the highly mobile Emperor penguin. We find that juveniles spend ∼90% of their time outside the boundaries of proposed and existing MPAs, and that their distribution extends far beyond (> 1500 km) the species’ extent of occurrence as defined by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. We argue that strategic conservation plans for Emperor penguin and long-lived ecologically important species must consider the dynamic habitat range of all age classes.

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