Dynamics of Subcolonies in the Adelie Penguin

阿德利企鹅亚群动态

• 批准号: 9311804
• 负责人: Gary Miller
• 金额: $ 3.27万
• 依托单位: University of New Mexico
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 1993
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1993-05-01 至 1995-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=9311804&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Dynamics; Subcolonies; Adelie; Penguin

Adelie penguin colonies have an internal structure consisting of a variety of distinct subcolonies. These subcolonies increase or decrease in size relatively independent from variations in the colony as a whole. The purpose of this project is to investigate the dynamics of subcolony size at several large breeding colonies of Adelie penguins in the Ross Sea, and evaluate the factors that cause such variation. It is important to understand what causes these sometimes-contradictory patterns in order to understand the dynamics of penguin populations as a whole. Observations at the northern colony at Cape Bird indicate that ice conditions and disturbance by visitors are significant factors that affect subcolony size. These factors will be addressed specifically. In addition, methods of digital image analysis will be used to ease the process of counting penguins from aerial photos. This research will raise the sophistication of our understanding of penguin population dynamics and also introduce more automated methods for evaluating populations. Both these goals are of considerable importance to current major interests in Antarctic biology.

阿德利企鹅群的内部结构由各种不同的亚群组成。这些亚菌落的大小增加或减少相对独立于整个菌落的变化。这个项目的目的是调查罗斯海几个大型阿德利企鹅繁殖群体的亚群大小的动态，并评估导致这种变化的因素。了解是什么导致了这些有时相互矛盾的模式，以便了解企鹅种群的整体动态，这一点很重要。在伯德角北部殖民地的观察表明，冰川条件和游客的干扰是影响亚殖民地大小的重要因素。这些因素将得到具体解决。此外，还将使用数字图像分析方法，简化从航拍照片中计算企鹅数量的过程。这项研究将提高我们对企鹅种群动态的理解的复杂性，并引入更多的自动化方法来评估企鹅种群。这两个目标对目前南极生物学的主要利益具有相当重要的意义。