Penguin tissue as a proxy for relative krill abundance in East Antarctica during the Holocene

Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) is a key component of the Southern Ocean food web. It supports a large number of upper trophic-level predators, and is also a major fishery resource. Understanding changes in krill abundance has long been a priority for research and conservation in the Southern Oc...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Scientific Reports
Main Authors: Huang, Tao, Sun, Liguang, Long, Nanye, Wang, Yuhong, Huang, Wen
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: Nature Publishing Group 2013
Subjects:
Article
Antarctic
East Antarctica
Southern Ocean
Antarc*
Antarctic Krill
Antarctica
Euphausia superba
Pygoscelis adeliae
Online Access:http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3786295
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24076768
https://doi.org/10.1038/srep02807
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Summary:Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) is a key component of the Southern Ocean food web. It supports a large number of upper trophic-level predators, and is also a major fishery resource. Understanding changes in krill abundance has long been a priority for research and conservation in the Southern Ocean. In this study, we performed stable isotope analyses on ancient Adélie penguin tissues and inferred relative krill abundance during the Holocene epoch from paleodiets of Adélie penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae), using inverse of δ15N (ratio of 15N/14N) value as a proxy. We find that variations in krill abundance during the Holocene are in accord with episodes of regional climate changes, showing greater krill abundance in cold periods. Moreover, the low δ15N values found in modern Adélie penguins indicate relatively high krill availability, which supports the hypothesis of krill surplus in modern ages due to recent hunt for krill-eating seals and whales by humans.

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