From Ice to Penguins: The Role of Mathematics in Antarctic Research

Xavier, José C.; Hill, Simeon L.; Belchier, Mark; Bracegirdle, Thomas J.; Murphy, Eugene J.; Dias, Joaquim

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-16121-1_20

Cited by 5 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 84 publications

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“…Information on the diet and feeding ecology of penguins is vital for parameterising consumption models in Antarctic food webs [17–19]. However, it is currently unknown how penguin behaviour could adapt to change, over the longer term (i.e.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sexual and individual foraging segregation in Gentoo penguins Pygoscelis papua from the Southern Ocean during an abnormal winter

et al. 2017

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Knowledge about sexual segregation and gender-specific, or indeed individual specialization, in marine organisms has improved considerably in the past decade. In this context, we tested the “Intersexual Competition Hypothesis” for penguins by investigating the feeding ecology of Gentoo penguins during their austral winter non-breeding season. We considered this during unusual environmental conditions (i.e. the year 2009 had observations of high sea surface and air temperatures) in comparison with the long term average at Bird Island, South Georgia. Through conventional (i.e. stomach contents) and stable isotopic values from red blood cells, plasma and feathers of both male and female Gentoo penguins, we showed that there were significant differences between sexes, with males feeding mainly on fish (54% by mass) followed by crustaceans (38%) whereas females fed mainly on crustaceans (89% by mass) followed by fish (4%). Themisto gaudichaudii was the most important crustacean prey for males (64% by mass; 82% by number; 53% by frequency of occurrence) and females (63% by mass; 77% by number; 89% by frequency of occurrence), contrasting with all previous studies that found Antarctic krill Euphausia superba were generally the main prey. Stable isotopic data showed that, in terms of habitat use (based on δ 13C), there were significant differences in short-term carbon signatures between males and females (based on plasma and red blood cells), suggesting that both sexes explored different habitats, with females exploring more offshore pelagic waters and males feeding more in coastal benthic waters. Based on δ 15N, males fed on significantly higher trophic level than females (based on plasma and red blood cells), in agreement with our diet results., Thus, Gentoo penguins behave in a similar manner to other non-breeding penguins species (e.g. king, macaroni and rockhopper penguins), albeit at a smaller spatial scale (as they do not disperse as these other penguins do), in that they have a wider habitat and trophic niche during the Antarctic Winter (in comparison to Summer). We also detected individual specialization in feeding/trophic levels for each gender, with certain males feeding mainly on fish and certain females mainly on crustaceans, which may be driven the prevailing environmental conditions that lead individuals to search for alternative prey, and cause sexual diet segregation. Our results provide further information to help improve understanding about sexual segregation and individual specialization of marine organisms, while contributing valuable information on the winter diet for Antarctic monitoring programs and for modelling Antarctic marine food webs.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sexual and individual foraging segregation in Gentoo penguins Pygoscelis papua from the Southern Ocean during an abnormal winter

et al. 2017

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“…These long-term, multi-national monitoring programs will also help to improve the quality and selection of data for the next generation of climate and food-web models. The accurate selection of essential Ecosystem Ocean Variables (Constable et al, 2014), for instance, is required to reliably predict regional or global Antarctic marine ecosystems (Murphy and Hofmann, 2013;Xavier et al, 2015).…”

Section: Future Requirements For Southern Ocean Life and Ecology Resementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Furthermore, autonomous profiling floats will continue to be extremely useful to collate valuable information and provide long-term trends in the future (Gille, 2002;Sallée et al, 2010;Tagliabue et al, 2014;Heuzé et al, 2015). Using such data, with those possible obtained from satellites (due to improved accuracy and uncertainty) will also aid our information about Ocean processes (Sarmiento et al, 1998;Arrigo et al, 1999;Arrigo, 2005;Hauck et al, 2015), ecology and food webs dynamics (Gillett and Thompson, 2003;Weimerskirch et al, 2012;Siegel et al, 2014;Laufkötter et al, 2015;Xavier et al, 2015). These technologies are efficient and environmentally friendly and will dramatically improve the spatial and temporal coverage of biological and physical sampling of the Southern Ocean.…”

Section: Future Requirements For Southern Ocean Life and Ecology Resementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Modeling forecasting tools have been developed and available to allow predictions, although there is a need for improvement (Xavier et al, 2015). From a marine food webs forecasting perspective, in order to improve worldwide biological forecasting (i.e., predicting biological responses of organisms from local to global scales) (Barnosky et al, 2012), we need to be able to evaluate the ecological tipping points of Southern Ocean ecosystems (Gutt et al, 2013).…”

Section: Develop Southern Ocean Marine Food Webs Forecasting Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Future Challenges in Southern Ocean Ecology Research

et al. 2016

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The Southern Ocean is experiencing relentless change. The Antarctic and Southern Ocean community, represented by 75 scientists and policy-makers from 22 countries, recently met to formulate a collective vision on the priorities for Antarctic research for the next two decades and beyond. Here, we assess high-interest research areas related specifically to Southern Ocean life and ecology that, although not all retained as the 80 top priorities among the addressed scientific domains, are of considerable relevance to the biology and ecology of the Southern Ocean. As certain regions of the Southern Ocean ecosystems have witnessed abiotic and biotic changes in the last decades (e.g., warming, climate variability, changes in sea ice, and abundance of marine organisms), such an exercise was urgently needed. We concluded that basic biological information on the taxonomy of numerous organisms is still lacking in areas, such as the deep-ocean floor or the under-ice environments. Furthermore, there is a need for knowledge about the response and resilience of Antarctic marine ecosystems to change. The continuation of a long-term commitment and the development and use of innovative technology to adequately monitor the Southern Ocean ecosystems is required. Highlighting the most important Southern Ocean research topics allow the identification of the challenges and future requirements in technological development, and both research and funding strategies for the various stakeholders.

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Penguins: Diversity, Threats, and Role in Marine Ecosystems

Xavier

Trathan

2020

Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals

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From Ice to Penguins: The Role of Mathematics in Antarctic Research

Cited by 5 publications

References 84 publications

Sexual and individual foraging segregation in Gentoo penguins Pygoscelis papua from the Southern Ocean during an abnormal winter

Sexual and individual foraging segregation in Gentoo penguins Pygoscelis papua from the Southern Ocean during an abnormal winter

Future Challenges in Southern Ocean Ecology Research

Penguins: Diversity, Threats, and Role in Marine Ecosystems

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