Rockhopper penguins as sentinels of ecosystem change in the subantarctic Southern Ocean

跳岩企鹅是亚南极南大洋生态系统变化的哨兵

• 批准号: 493540432
• 负责人: Professorin Dr. Petra Quillfeldt, Ph.D.
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: ArbeitsgruppeTierökologie
• 依托单位国家: 德国
• 项目类别: Research Grants
• 资助国家: 德国
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gepris.dfg.de/gepris/projekt/493540432?language=en
• 关键词: Rockhopper; penguins; sentinels; ecosystem; change

In marine habitats, seabirds can serve as valuable indicators of marine ecosystem trophic state and productivity. Recent work has pointed out important changes in marine ecosystems, and one species that is sensitive to such changes is the Southern rockhopper penguin Eudyptes chrysocome (IUCN category vulnerable). Analyses of recent and historical data suggest that rockhopper penguins survive and reproduce poorer in a warming ocean, and that climate change may affect them in several stages of the breeding and non-breeding season. Over a third of the world population of this species breed in the Falkland Islands, where the populations show a particularly strong decline, and our previous studies (2006-2011) here have pointed out reduced survival probabilities under increasingly warm ocean temperatures and lighter eggs under warmer environmental conditions. However, the underlying causes of these changes are still poorly known. The present project ties in with previous studies but we will apply newly available technology, namely much smaller GPS-acceleration data loggers to study the stages of the breeding season that are still unknown and the energy used for foraging movements, making use also of Machine Learning (i.e. artificial intelligence) methods to determine time budgets. Compound-specific stable isotope analyses and metabarcoding of fecal samples will be used to study the diet during different stages of the breeding cycle. We will also employ time-lapse cameras and employ citizen science via “Penguin watch” – a toolkit for extracting large-scale data from camera imagery and engaging the public. Overall, we aim to understand what makes Southern rockhopper penguins particularly sensitive to warming ocean conditions.

在海洋栖息地中，海鸟可以作为海洋生态系统营养状态和生产力的重要指标，最近的工作指出了海洋生态系统的重要变化，对这种变化敏感的物种之一是南跳岩企鹅Eudyptes chryscome（IUCN类别脆弱）。对近期和历史数据的分析表明，跳岩企鹅在变暖的海洋中生存和繁殖能力较差，气候变化可能会在繁殖和非繁殖季节的几个阶段影响它们。该物种超过三分之一的世界种群在福克兰群岛繁殖，那里的种群数量下降特别严重，我们之前的研究（2006-2011）指出，在海洋温度日益升高和卵子重量较轻的情况下，其生存概率降低。然而，这些变化的根本原因仍然知之甚少，目前的项目与之前的研究相关，但我们将应用新的技术，即更小的 GPS 加速数据记录仪来研究繁殖季节的各个阶段。仍然未知以及用于觅食运动的能量，还利用机器学习（即人工智能）方法来确定时间预算。化合物特异性稳定同位素分析和粪便样本的元条形码将用于研究繁殖周期不同阶段的饮食。我们还将使用延时摄影机，并通过“企鹅手表”使用公民科学——一个从相机图像中提取大规模数据并吸引公众的工具包。总体而言，我们的目标是了解南方跳岩鸟的成因。企鹅对变暖的海洋条件特别敏感。