Investigations of Abandoned Penguin Colonies in Antarctica

对南极洲废弃企鹅群的调查

• 批准号: 9909274
• 负责人: Steven Emslie
• 金额: $ 7.94万
• 依托单位: University of North Carolina at Wilmington
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2000
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2000-09-15 至 2004-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=9909274&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Investigations; Abandoned; Penguin; Colonies; Antarctica

Factors which influence the distribution and long-term success of populations in the marine ecosystem are of current interest to those studying the relationship between climate and population dynamics in Antarctica. The focus of this project is Adelie penguins and population response by this species to late Holocene climatic change. The study will integrate date from the ecological, geological and paleobiological records with satellite imagery analyses to test the hypothesis that Adelie penguins have been responding to climate change over decades to centuries in a predictable manner and that fluctuations in sea-ice extent and marine productivity are the primary parameters from which to measure these responses. Thus, past responses by penguins to climate change as indicated by the paleoecological record should reflect those observed today with regional warming over the past twenty to fifty years. The study will include field and laboratory investigations of abandoned colonies along coastal Antarctica. Excavations of field sites which are located within current population centers of Adelie penguins will be conducted in the Ross Sea Region and along the Antarctic Peninsula. The occupation history of each abandoned colony will be determined by collecting surface and subsurface bones, feathers, and eggshell fragments preserved in these sites for identification and radiocarbon analyses. Sediments sifted from each site will allow recovery of organic remains (such as squid beaks and fish otoliths) that represent the former diet of penguins. These remains can be quantified statistically to assess changes in prey consumption by penguins in relation to past episodes of climate change that are well documented for the late Pleistocene and Holocene in ice-core and marine-sediment records. The multidisciplinary approach lends strength to the approach to test hypotheses related to population distribution and climate change.

目前，研究南极洲气候与人口动态之间关系的人们对影响海洋生态系统中人口分布和长期成功的因素感兴趣。该项目的重点是阿德利企鹅和该物种对全新世晚期气候变化的种群反应。该研究将把生态、地质和古生物学记录的数据与卫星图像分析结合起来，以检验阿德利企鹅几十年到几个世纪以来一直以可预测的方式应对气候变化以及海冰范围和海洋生产力的波动的假设。衡量这些响应的主要参数。因此，古生态记录表明企鹅过去对气候变化的反应应该反映了今天观察到的过去二十到五十年区域变暖的反应。该研究将包括对南极洲沿海废弃殖民地的实地和实验室调查。位于目前阿德利企鹅种群中心的实地发掘工作将在罗斯海地区和南极半岛沿线进行。每个废弃殖民地的占领历史将通过收集这些地点保存的地表和地下骨头、羽毛和蛋壳碎片进行识别和放射性碳分析来确定。从每个地点筛选的沉积物将允许回收代表企鹅以前饮食的有机残留物（例如鱿鱼喙和鱼耳石）。这些遗骸可以进行统计量化，以评估企鹅消耗的猎物与过去气候变化事件相关的变化，这些变化在更新世晚期和全新世的冰芯和海洋沉积物记录中有详细记录。多学科方法增强了检验与人口分布和气候变化相关的假设的方法。