Occupation of the Antarctic continent by petrels during the past 35 000 years: Inferences from a 14C study of stomach oil deposits

Hiller, Achim; Wand, Ulrich; Kämpf, Horst; Stackebrandt, Werner

doi:10.1007/bf00442032

Cited by 48 publications

(53 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…2) give evidence that some colonies existed at least from 36 ka to the late Holocene (Hiller et al 1988, Wand and Hermichen 2005.…”

Section: Palaeobiological Evidence For Glacial Polynyasmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Because of their ecology they should have out-competed other species; a fact that is still evident today; they are the only penguin species next to the Ade´lie Penguin that is able to thrive and successfully breed in high Antarctic conditions of the Weddell and Ross Seas (Lemaho 1977, Ainley 2002. If open ocean polynyas were permanent sites of productivity in the last glacial period, Emperor Penguins might have shared the fate of Snow and Antarctic Petrels, being the only warmblooded species that maintained permanent breeding populations in the high Antarctic (Hiller et al 1988, Steele and Hiller 1997. The unique DNA structure found in Ross Sea Ade´lie Penguins today (Ainley 2002 and references therein) was interpreted to indicate the survival of an isolated Ross Sea Ade´lie population during the last glacial period.…”

Section: Effects On Southern Ocean Top Predatorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Life Hung by a Thread: Endurance of Antarctic Fauna in Glacial Periods

Thatje

Hillenbrand

Mackensen

et al. 2008

Ecology

145

170

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Abstract. Today, Antarctica exhibits some of the harshest environmental conditions for life on Earth. During the last glacial period, Antarctic terrestrial and marine life was challenged by even more extreme environmental conditions. During the present interglacial period, polar life in the Southern Ocean is sustained mainly by large-scale primary production. We argue that during the last glacial period, faunal populations in the Antarctic were limited to very few areas of local marine productivity (polynyas), because complete, multiannual sea-ice and ice shelf coverage shut down most of the Southern Ocean productivity within today's seasonal sea-ice zone. Both marine sediments containing significant numbers of planktonic and benthic foraminifera and fossil bird stomach oil deposits in the adjacent Antarctic hinterland provide indirect evidence for the existence of polynyas during the last glacial period. We advocate that the existence of productive oases in the form of polynyas during glacial periods was essential for the survival of marine and most higher-trophic terrestrial fauna. Reduced to such refuges, much of today's life in the high Antarctic realm might have hung by a thread during the last glacial period, because limited resources available to the food web restricted the abundance and productivity of both Antarctic terrestrial and marine life.

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“…2) give evidence that some colonies existed at least from 36 ka to the late Holocene (Hiller et al 1988, Wand and Hermichen 2005.…”

Section: Palaeobiological Evidence For Glacial Polynyasmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Effects On Southern Ocean Top Predatorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Life Hung by a Thread: Endurance of Antarctic Fauna in Glacial Periods

Thatje

Hillenbrand

Mackensen

et al. 2008

Ecology

145

170

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Predators may include skuas prospecting for food at the entrance to snow petrel nest cavities. Due to the nesting area's extreme aridity and cold temperatures, over time a stratified deposit of oil (lipid) builds up and is preserved frozen around the entrances of snow petrel nest cavities (Hiller et al 1988(Hiller et al , 1995 Fig. 1).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Holocene variation in the Antarctic coastal food web: linking δD and δ13C in snow petrel diet and marine sediments

Ainley¹,

Hobson²,

Crosta³

et al. 2006

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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Here we present first time evidence for concordant variation in the isotopic signature at both the base and the upper levels of the Antarctic coastal food web during the Holocene. Laminae in sub-fossil deposits of snow petrel Pagodroma nivea stomach oil, known as mumiyo, were collected from nest-sites in the Bunger Hills, East Antarctica. Mumiyo layers were sub-sampled, radiocarbondated, and analyzed for δ 13 C and δD. The obtained values were compared to isotopic variability among layers of an ocean sediment core collected, and similarly dated, in nearby Dumont D'Urville Trough. Overlapping records extended from about 10 160 to 526 calendar years before present (cal yr BP).Mumiyo δD values remained relatively constant throughout the sampled period, in accordance with data from nearby ice cores. For 13 C, both mumiyo and sediment were enriched during the warmer midHolocene (ca. 7500 to 5500 cal yr BP). Isotopic concordance between the core and the mumiyo, and a significant correlation between mumiyo δD and δ 13 C, suggest that past δ 13 C variation in plankton was transferred through diet to higher trophic levels and ultimately recorded in stomach oil of snow petrels. Divergence in signals during cold periods may indicate a shift in foraging by the petrels from 13 C-enriched neritic prey to normally 13 C-depleted pelagic prey, except for those pelagic prey encountered at the productive pack-ice edge during cooler periods, a shift forced by presumed greater sea-ice concentration during those times. Other air-breathing predators would likely respond in the same way.

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“…Radiocarbon measurements of modern marine samples from Antarctica have given ages of830-1460 yr BP, with a mean of 1180 yr BP (Stuiver et al 1986, Hiller et al 1988, Gordon & Harkness 1992, Ryan etal. 1992.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Conventional radiocarbon dating of mumiyo from the Untersee Oasis of central Dronning Maud Land (71 °S , 13 °E) recorded discontinuous petrel occupation since 34 kyr BP (Hiller et al 1988); two samples from the Robertsoskollen nunatak group, northern Ahlmannryggen, Dronning Maud Land (� 71 °S, 3°E), suggested that occupation began in about 7 kyr BP (Ryan et al 1992) and in the Bunger Hills, Wilkes Land (66°10'5, 101…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Radiocarbon dating of mumiyo from the Vestfold Hills, East Antarctica

Kiernan¹,

McConnell²,

Lawson³

2002

PPRST

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Accelerator mass spectrometer (AMS) radiocarbon dating of mumiyo deposited by snow petrels at nesting sites in the Vestfold Hills indicates the colonies were established after 4800 yr BP (uncorrected for marine reservoir effect). Sites on the highest hills were probably established first, but colonisation took place long after initial deglaciation, which was well advanced by 12.5k yr BP. The reason for late colonisation is not known. Perhaps older sites exist, but current evidence suggests the main colonisation occurred after the mid-Holocene re-advance of the S0rsdal Glacier. 0 11 C values indicate a diet of krill.

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Occupation of the Antarctic continent by petrels during the past 35 000 years: Inferences from a 14C study of stomach oil deposits

Cited by 48 publications

References 18 publications

Life Hung by a Thread: Endurance of Antarctic Fauna in Glacial Periods

Life Hung by a Thread: Endurance of Antarctic Fauna in Glacial Periods

Holocene variation in the Antarctic coastal food web: linking δD and δ13C in snow petrel diet and marine sediments

Radiocarbon dating of mumiyo from the Vestfold Hills, East Antarctica

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