Brutphänologie von Pinguinen der Gattung Pygoscelis auf der Insel Ardley ...

• Main Author: Senf, Martin
• Format: Text
• Language: German
• Published: Zenodo 2018
• Subjects: Antarctic; Ardley; Ardley Island; King George Island; South Shetland Islands; The Antarctic; Antarc*; Pygoscelis papua
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.11117000; https://zenodo.org/doi/10.5281/zenodo.11117000

Penguins are among the top predators of the Antarctic ecosystem. They are strongly adapted to the harsh conditions and temporal cycles of this region. Therefore, they are considered as indicators of changes of biotic and abiotic conditions in the environment. One possible response to climate variability is a temporal shift in the breeding phenology. A colony of Pygoscelis penguins on Ardley Island, next to the southwestern part of King George Island, South Shetland Islands, has been studied in four consecutive breeding seasons (2014/15 - 2017/18). About 120 nests of gentoo penguins (Pygoscelis papua) and about 30 of Adélie penguins (P. adeliae) were chosen to represent all topographic characteristic (altitude, slope, etc.) and biotic factors (nest group size). Nests were marked and controlled in intervals of three days. Dates of important breeding events, e.g. peak of egg laying and peak of hatching, were recorded. The resulting breeding phenology is representative for the temporal breeding pattern of the ...