Contrasting environmental conditions precluded lower availability of Antarctic krill affecting breeding chinstrap penguins in the Antarctic Peninsula

Abstract Dramatic decreases of chinstrap penguin populations across the Antarctic Peninsula (AP) are thought to be influenced by climate-driven changes affecting its main prey, the Antarctic krill, however, empirical evidence supporting such hypotheses are scarce. By coupling data on breeding chinst...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Scientific Reports
Main Authors: Nuria Salmerón, Solenne Belle, Francisco Santa Cruz, Nicolás Alegria, Júlia Victória Grohmann Finger, Denyelle Hennayra Corá, Maria Virginia Petry, Cristina Hernández, César A. Cárdenas, Lucas Krüger
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2023
Subjects:
Medicine
R
Science
Q
Antarctic
The Antarctic
Antarctic Peninsula
Antarc*
Antarctic Krill
Chinstrap penguin
Sea ice
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-32352-7
https://doaj.org/article/32642b452c374ed09695dbdb62cbd293
Description
Summary:Abstract Dramatic decreases of chinstrap penguin populations across the Antarctic Peninsula (AP) are thought to be influenced by climate-driven changes affecting its main prey, the Antarctic krill, however, empirical evidence supporting such hypotheses are scarce. By coupling data on breeding chinstrap penguins, environmental remote sensing and estimates of krill acoustic density, we were able to demonstrate that penguins substantially increased their foraging effort in a year of low krill availability, with consequent reduction in breeding success. A winter of low sea ice cover followed by a summer/spring with stronger wind and lower marine productivity explained the lower and deeper krill availability. Our results highlight the importance of environmental variability on penguin populations, as variability is expected to increase under climate change, affecting foraging behaviour responses.

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