Adélie penguins’ extensive seasonal migration supports dynamic Marine Protected Area planning in Antarctica

• Published in: Marine Policy
• Main Authors: Thiebot, Jean-Baptiste, Ropert‐coudert, Yan, Raclot, Thierry, Poupart, Timothée, Kato, Akiko, Takahashi, Akinori
• Other Authors: National Institute of Polar Research Tokyo (NiPR), Centre d'Études Biologiques de Chizé - UMR 7372 (CEBC), Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-La Rochelle Université (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institut Pluridisciplinaire Hubert Curien (IPHC), Université de Strasbourg (UNISTRA)-Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA) Mulhouse - Colmar (Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA))-Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), School of Environmental and Life Sciences - SELS (Callaghan, Australia), University of Newcastle Callaghan, Australia (UoN)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2019
• Subjects: Marine spatial planning; Southern ocean; Winter; Sea ice; Geolocation (GLS); Pygoscelis adeliae; [SDE]Environmental Sciences; Antarctic; D'Urville Sea; East Antarctica; Ile des Pétrels; Pétrels; Southern Ocean; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-02309717; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2019.103692

International audience Spatiotemporal dynamics of ecosystems can challenge the pertinence of Marine Protected Area (MPA) planning.Seasonal environmental changes are extreme in polar regions, however MPA planning in East Antarctica reliesmostly on species' summer distribution only. Thirteen Adélie penguins were tracked from Ile des Pétrels (TerreAdélie), and their seasonal distribution and behaviour were compared to the proposed “D'Urville Sea-Mertz”MPA. During the phase of high food-demand preceding moult, penguins used mostly (68.4%) this proposed area.However, following autumnal sea ice extension, penguins migrated north-westwards: overall, 73% of their locationswere outside the MPA proposal, and this was up to>99% during winter (in July), the season whenpenguins maximized their dive depth and time (August and September, respectively). This study thus supportsthe proposal of implementing a “krill no-take zone” policy in this MPA, in line with the pre-moult foraging ofthese krill predators in this area. Further protection of the year-round habitats of migratory Adélie penguinscould be achieved by inter-connecting the East Antarctic MPA proposals along the ice edge during winter,thereby mirroring the ecosystem's seasonal dynamics.