The call of the emperor penguin: Legal responses to species threatened by climate change

Jenouvrier, Stéphanie; Che‐Castaldo, Judy; Wolf, Shaye; Holland, Marika M.; Labrousse, Sara; LaRue, Michelle A.; Wienecke, Bárbara; Fretwell, Peter T.; Barbraud, Christophe; Greenwald, Noah; Stroeve, Julienne; Trathan, Philip N.

doi:10.1111/gcb.15806

Cited by 40 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 93 publications

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“…Sea ice is crucial to the survival of these predators, especially those that require sea ice for breeding, foraging, and moulting (Bestley et al 2020). A recent study used a climate model to project that colonies of the Emperor Penguin (Aptenodytes forsteri) would become quasi-extinct by 2100 because of the reduced availability of sea ice and foraging habitat (Jenouvrier et al 2021). Similarly, changes in the extent of sea ice have altered the foraging behaviour and survival rates of a number of pinnipeds, such as the southern elephant seal (Mirounga leonina), which has ultimately affected the population dynamics of these species (McMahon and Burton 2005;Bestley et al 2020;Bester 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Movements of southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) from Davis Base, Antarctica: combining population genetics and tracking data

Chua

McMahon

et al. 2022

Polar Biol

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Marine animals such as the southern elephant seal (Mirounga leonina) rely on a productive marine environment and are vulnerable to oceanic changes that can affect their reproduction and survival rates. Davis Base, Antarctica, acts as a moulting site for southern elephant seals that forage in Prydz Bay, but the mitochondrial haplotype diversity and natal source populations of these seals have not been characterized. In this study, we combined genetic and animal tracking data on these moulting seals to identify levels of mitochondrial haplotype diversity, natal source population, and movement behaviours during foraging and haul-out periods. Using partial sequences of the mitochondrial control region, we identified two major breeding mitochondrial lineages of seals at Davis Base. We found that the majority of the seals originated from breeding stocks within the South Atlantic Ocean and South Indian Ocean. One seal was grouped with the Macquarie Island breeding stock (South Pacific Ocean). The Macquarie Island population, unlike the other two stocks, is decreasing in size. Tracking data revealed long-distance foraging activity of the Macquarie Island seal around Crozet Islands. We speculate that changes to the Antarctic marine environment can result in a shift in foraging and movement strategies, which subsequently affects seal population growth rates.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Movements of southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) from Davis Base, Antarctica: combining population genetics and tracking data

Chua

McMahon

et al. 2022

Polar Biol

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“…Emperor penguins start breeding earliest at age 4–5 years, lay only one egg per pair and year, and only have an annual chance of 55% to bring a chick to fledging [ 32 ]. This low fecundity, projected to decrease under future warming scenarios [ 32 , 48 ], makes the survival of immature individuals, which represent about one quarter of the total population [ 33 ], particularly critical for the recruitment into breeding populations and thus the species' viability [ 49 ]. Moreover, in contrast with adults, the dispersal behaviour of juveniles is one of the main processes by which long-lived species will be able to adapt to the ongoing rapid environmental change.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Juvenile emperor penguin range calls for extended conservation measures in the Southern Ocean

et al. 2022

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To protect the unique and rich biodiversity of the Southern Ocean, conservation measures such as marine protected areas (MPAs) have been implemented. Currently, the establishment of several additional protection zones is being considered based on the known habitat distributions of key species of the ecosystems including emperor penguins and other marine top predators. However, the distribution of such species at sea is often insufficiently sampled. Specifically, current distribution models focus on the habitat range of adult animals and neglect that immatures and juveniles can inhabit different areas. By tracking eight juvenile emperor penguins in the Weddell Sea over 1 year and performing a meta-analysis including previously known data from other colonies, we show that conservation efforts in the Southern Ocean are insufficient for protecting this highly mobile species, and particularly its juveniles. We find that juveniles spend approximately 90% of their time outside the boundaries of proposed and existing MPAs, and that their distribution extends beyond (greater than 1500 km) the species' extent of occurrence as defined by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Our data exemplify that strategic conservation plans for the emperor penguin and other long-lived ecologically important species should consider the dynamic habitat range of all age classes.

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“…Loss of sea ice negatively affects organisms that rely on ice (e.g. emperor penguins and polar bears; Boonstra et al, 2020; Chown et al, 2022; Jenouvrier et al, 2020, 2021; Stirling & Derocher, 2012; Wege et al, 2021) but can lead to range expansion for other species (Chan et al, 2019; Chown et al, 2022; Christiansen et al, 2014; Feng et al, 2018; Posdaljian et al, 2022). Novel feeding interactions can then develop, which amplify the impact of species redistribution (Pecuchet et al, 2020).…”

Section: Biological Change At the Polesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate change and extreme events are changing the biology of Polar Regions

Robinson

2022

Global Change Biology

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The call of the emperor penguin: Legal responses to species threatened by climate change

Abstract: This is an open access article under the terms of the Creat ive Commo ns Attri butio n-NonCo mmerc ial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.

Cited by 40 publications

References 93 publications

Movements of southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) from Davis Base, Antarctica: combining population genetics and tracking data

Movements of southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) from Davis Base, Antarctica: combining population genetics and tracking data

Juvenile emperor penguin range calls for extended conservation measures in the Southern Ocean

Climate change and extreme events are changing the biology of Polar Regions

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