Hostname: page-component-8678677fb7-dg9rd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-10-16T09:59:25.035Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Comparison of emperor penguin declines between Pointe Géologie and Haswell Island over the past 50 years

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 May 2011

Christophe Barbraud ,
Maria Gavrilo ,
Yuri Mizin  and
Henri Weimerskirch
Christophe Barbraud*
Affiliation:
Centre d'Etudes Biologiques de Chizé, CNRS UPR1934, 79360 Villiers en Bois, France
Maria Gavrilo
Affiliation:
Arctic & Antarctic Research Institute, 38 Bering Street, 199397 St. Petersburg, Russian Federation
Yuri Mizin
Affiliation:
Russian Antarctic Expedition, 38 Bering Street, 199397 St. Petersburg, Russian Federation
Henri Weimerskirch
Affiliation:
Centre d'Etudes Biologiques de Chizé, CNRS UPR1934, 79360 Villiers en Bois, France
*
barbraud@cebc.cnrs.fr
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The emperor penguin (Aptenodytes forsteri) is highly dependent on sea ice conditions, and future climate change may affect its distribution and numbers. Most studies on the demography and population dynamics of emperor penguins in relation to sea ice characteristics were conducted at a single colony (Pointe Géologie). Several non-exclusive hypotheses have been proposed to explain the dramatic decline of this colony, including changes in sea ice conditions, predation, flipper banding and human disturbance. Here, we report and analyse updated long-term trends in numbers of breeding pairs made at two colonies (Pointe Géologie and Haswell Island) where counts are comparable. Similar changes were observed for both colonies and paralleled changes in sea ice extent. At Pointe Géologie and Haswell Island, populations declined similarly and later growth rates were also similar since the early 1990s for Haswell and early 1980s for Pointe Géologie. The magnitude of the decline was similar between both colonies when numbers of breeding pairs were assessed. This study suggests that a common large-scale environmental factor has probably negatively affected both colonies.

Keywords

AntarcticaAptenodytes forstericlimate changepopulation trendssea ice extent

Information

Type
Biological Sciences
Information
Antarctic Science , Volume 23 , Issue 5 , October 2011 , pp. 461 - 468
Copyright
Copyright © Antarctic Science Ltd 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Abram, N.J., Thomas, E.R., McConnell, J.R., Mulvaney, R., Bracegirdle, T.J., Sime, L.C. Aristarain, A.J. 2010. Ice core evidence for a 20th century decline of sea ice in the Bellingshausen Sea, Antarctica. Journal of Geophysical Research, 115, 10.1029/2010JD014644.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ainley, D.G., Clarke, E.D., Arrigo, K., Fraser, W.R., Kato, A., Barton, K.J. Wilson, P.R. 2005. Decadal-scale changes in the climate and biota of the Pacific sector of the Southern Ocean, 1950s to the 1990s. Antarctic Science, 17, 171–182.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ainley, D., Russell, J., Jenouvrier, S., Woehler, E., Lyver, P.O'B., Fraser, W.R. Kooyman, G.L. 2010b. Antarctic penguin response to habitat change as Earth's troposphere reaches 2°C above preindustrial levels. Ecological Monographs, 80, 49–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ainley, D.G., Ballard, G., Blight, L.K., Ackley, S., Lescroël, A., Olmastroni, S., Townsend, S.E., Tynan, C.T., Wilson, P. Woehler, E. 2010a. Impact of cetaceans on the structure of Southern Ocean food webs. Marine Mammal Science, 26, 482–498.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ainley, D.G., Ballard, G., Ackley, S., Blight, L.K., Eastman, J.T., Emslie, S.D., Lescroël, A., Olmastroni, S., Townsend, S.E., Tynan, C.T., Wilson, P. Woehler, E. 2007. Paradigm lost, or is top-down forcing no longer significant in the Antarctic marine ecosystem? Antarctic Science, 19, 283–290.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ancel, A., Kooyman, G., Ponganis, P.J., Gendner, J.-P., Lignon, J., Mestre, X., Huin, N., Thorson, P.H., Robisson, P. Le Maho, Y. 1992. Foraging behaviour of emperor penguins as a resource detector in winter and summer. Nature, 360, 336–339.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barber-Meyer, S.M., Kooyman, G.L. Ponganis, P.J. 2007. Estimating the relative abundance of emperor penguins at inaccessible colonies using satellite imagery. Polar Biology, 30, 1565–1570.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barbraud, C. Cotté, C. 2008. Paradigms need hypothesis testing: no evidence for top-down forcing on Adélie and emperor penguin populations. Antarctic Science, 20, 391–392.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barbraud, C. Weimerskirch, H. 2001. Emperor penguins and climate change. Nature, 411, 183–186.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Barbraud, C. Weimerskirch, H. 2006. Antarctic birds breed later in response to climate change. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science of the United States, 103, 6248–6251.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cavalieri, D.J. Parkinson, C.L. 2008. Antarctic sea ice variability and trends, 1979–2006. Journal of Geophysical Research, 113, 10.1029/2007JC004564.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cherel, Y. 2008. Isotopic niches of emperor and Adélie penguins in Adélie Land, Antarctica. Marine Biology, 154, 813–821.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Curran, M.A.J., van Ommen, T.D., Morgan, V.I., Phillips, K.L. Palmer, A.S. 2003. Ice core evidence for Antarctic sea ice decline since the 1950s. Science, 302, 1203–1206.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
DeWitt, H.H., Heemstra, P.C. Gon, O. 1990. Pleuragramma antarcticum Boulenger, 1902, Antarctic silverfish. In Gon, O. & Heemstra, P.C., eds. Fishes of the Southern Ocean. Grahamstown: J.L.B. Smith Institute of Ichthyology, 314–316.Google Scholar
Foster, A.F.M., Curran, M.A.J., Smith, B.T., van Ommen, T.D. Morgan, V.I. 2006. Covariation of sea ice and methanesulphonic acid in Wilhelm II Land, East Antarctica. Annals of Glaciology, 44, 429–432.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fraser, W.R. Trivelpiece, W.Z. 1996. Factors controlling the distribution of seabirds: winter–summer heterogeneity in the distribution of Adélie penguin populations. Antarctic Research Series, 70, 257–272.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Granata, A., Zagami, G., Vacchi, M. Guglielmo, L. 2009. Summer and spring trophic niche of larval and juvenile Pleuragramma antarcticum in the western Ross Sea, Antarctica. Polar Biology, 32, 369–382.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jaeger, A. Cherel, Y. 2011. Isotopic investigation of contemporary and historic changes in penguin trophic niches and carrying capacity of the southern Indian Ocean. PLoS ONE, 6, e16484, 10.1371/journal.pone.0016484.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jenouvrier, S., Barbraud, C. Weimerskirch, H. 2005. Long-term contrasted responses to climate of two Antarctic seabird species. Ecology, 86, 2889–2903.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jenouvrier, S., Barbraud, C., Weimerskirch, H. Caswell, H. 2009b. Limitation of population recovery: a stochastic approach to the case of the emperor penguin. Oikos, 118, 1292–1298.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jenouvrier, S., Caswell, H., Barbraud, C., Holland, M., Stroeve, J. Weimerskirch, H. 2009a. Demographic models and IPCC climate projections predict the decline of an emperor penguin population. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States, 106, 1844–1847.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jouventin, P. 1975. Mortality parameters in emperor penguins Aptenodytes forsteri. In Stonehouse, B., ed. The biology of penguins. London: Macmillan, 435–446.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jouventin, P., Stahl, J.-C., Weimerskirch, H. Mougin, J.-L. 1984. The seabirds of the French subantarctic islands and Adélie Land, their status and conservation. In Croxall, J.P., Evans, P.G.H. & Schreiber, R.W., eds. Status and conservation of the World's seabirds ICBP Technical Publication, no. 2, 609–625.Google Scholar
Kamenev, V.M. 1968. Emperor penguins in the Mirny observatory area. Soviet Antarctic Expedition Information Bulletin, 70, 162–164. [In Russian].Google Scholar
Kamenev, V.M. 1977. Ecology of the emperor penguins in Haswell archipelago area (East Antarctica). In Ilitchev, V., ed. Adaptations in penguins. Moskova: Nauka, 141–156. [In Russian].Google Scholar
Kirkwood, R. Robertson, G. 1997. Seasonal change in the foraging ecology of emperor penguins on the Mawson Coast, Antarctica. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 156, 205–223.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kooyman, G.L., Ainley, D.G., Ballard, G. Ponganis, P.J. 2007. Effects of giant icebergs on two emperor penguin colonies in the Ross Sea, Antarctica. Antarctic Science, 19, 31–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kooyman, G.L., Hunke, E., Ackeley, S., van Dam, R. Robertson, G. 2000. Moult of the emperor penguin: travel, location, and habitat selection. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 204, 269–277.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Korotkevich, E.S. 1959. Birds of East Antarctica. Problems of the Arctic and Antarctica, 1, 95–108. [In Russian].Google Scholar
Makushok, V.M. 1959. On the biological sampling and observations in the Mirny observatory in 1958. Soviet Antarctic Expedition Information Bulletin, 6, 40–42. [In Russian].Google Scholar
Maslennikov, V.V. 2003. Climatic variability and Antarctic marine ecosystem. Moscow: VNIRO Publishing, 296 pp. [In Russian].Google Scholar
Massom, R.A., Hill, K., Barbraud, C., Adams, N., Ancel, A., Emmerson, L. Pook, M.J. 2009. Fast ice distribution in Adélie Land, East Antarctica: interannual variability and implications for emperor penguins Aptenodytes forsteri. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 374, 243–257.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Masson-Delmotte, V., Delmotte, V., Morgan, V., Etheridge, D., van Ommen, T., Tartarin, S. Hoffmann, G. 2003. Recent southern Indian Ocean variability inferred from a Law Dome ice core, new insights for the interpretation of coastal Antarctic isotopic records. Climate Dynamics, 21, 153–166.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nicol, S. 2006. Krill, currents, and sea-ice: Euphausia superba and its changing environment. BioScience, 56, 111–120.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parkinson, C.L. 2004. Southern Ocean sea ice and its wider linkages: insights revealed from models and observations. Antarctic Science, 16, 387–400.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pitman, R.L. Ensor, P. 2003. Three forms of killer whales (Orcinus orca) in Antarctic waters. Journal of Cetacean Research and Management, 5, 1–9.Google Scholar
Prévost, J. 1961. Ecologie du manchot empereur Aptenodytes forsteri Gray. Expéditions Polaires Françaises, Publication No. 222. Paris: Hermann, 206 pp.Google Scholar
Pryor, M.E. 1964. Notes on the life history of the emperor penguin, Aptenodytes forsteri Gray, at Mirny Observatory, Antarctica, 1962. Soviet Antarctic Expedition Information Bulletin, 3, 183–184. [In Russian].Google Scholar
Reid, K. Croxall, J.P. 2001. Environmental response of upper trophic level predators reveals a system change in an Antarctic marine ecosystem. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, B268, 377–384.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ridoux, V. Offredo, C. 1989. The diets of five summer breeding seabirds in Adélie Land, Antarctica. Polar Biology, 9, 137–145.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robertson, G. 1992. Population size and breeding success of emperor penguins Aptenodytes forsteri at the Auster and Taylor Glacier colonies, Mawson Coast, Antarctica. Emu, 92, 62–71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Saraux, C., Le Bohec, C., Durant, J.M., Viblanc, V.A., Gauthier-Clerc, M., Beaune, D., Park, Y.-H., Yoccoz, N.G., Stenseth, N.C. Le Maho, Y. 2011. Reliability of flipper-banding penguins as indicators of climate change. Nature, 469, 203–206.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stonehouse, B. 1953. The emperor penguin Aptenodytes forsteri Gray. I. Breeding behaviour and development. Falklands Islands Dependencies Survey Scientific Reports, No. 6, 33 pp.Google Scholar
Trathan, P.N., Fretwell, P.T. Stonehouse, B. 2011. First recorded loss of an emperor penguin colony in the recent period of Antarctic regional warming: implications for other colonies. PLoS ONE, 6, e14738. 10.1371/journal.pone.0014738.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Weimerskirch, H., Inchausti, P., Guinet, C. Barbraud, C. 2003. Trends in bird and seal populations as indicators of a system shift in the Southern Ocean. Antarctic Science, 15, 249–256.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wienecke, B.C. Robertson, G. 1997. Foraging space of emperor penguins Aptenodytes forsteri in Antarctic shelf waters in winter. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 159, 249–263.CrossRefGoogle Scholar