Penguin-Krill-Ice Interactions: The Impact of Environmental Variability on Penguin Demography

9816616 Trivelpiece 在位于南极半岛地区乔治王岛的金钟湾进行的长期海鸟研究记录了阿德利企鹅、巴布亚企鹅和帽带企鹅的繁殖生物学和生态学生活史参数的年度变化。 这些物种获得的二十年记录，包括生存和补充、种群规模和繁殖成功，以及饮食和觅食生态学，使科学家能够检验有关这些捕食者参数与南极海洋生态系统变异性之间联系的关键假设。 该项目将重点了解自然环境与企鹅种群生物学之间的联系，特别是海冰覆盖范围及其对磷虾作为企鹅食物来源的影响。 磷虾是南极海洋的重要食物网物种，占须鲸、海豹和企鹅等主要捕食者捕食量的近 100%。 对长期数据集的分析表明，多年的冬季海冰有利于磷虾的补充，因为磷虾幼体在海冰栖息地寻找避难所和食物。 人们还观察到，多年的厚海冰有利于阿德利企鹅的招募，而不是帽带企鹅的招募。 工作内容包括饮食样本分析、船上磷虾采样、企鹅的生存和招募研究、繁殖季节企鹅的卫星跟踪以及卫星海冰图像分析。 企鹅是用于监测该地区商业渔业活动影响的关键物种，因此这项研究将为《南极海洋生物资源保护公约》提供有用的信息，该公约是侧重于渔业管理的南极条约体系的一部分。

9816616 Trivelpiece Long-term seabird research conducted at Admiralty Bay, which is located on King George Island in the Antarctic Peninsula region, has documented annual variability in the life history parameters of the breeding biology and ecology of the Adelie, gentoo and chinstrap penguins. Twenty-year records acquired on these species, including survival and recruitment, population size and breeding success, and diets and foraging ecology have enabled scientists to test key hypotheses regarding the linkage between these predator parameters and variability in the Antarctic marine ecosystem. This project will focus on understanding the linkages between the physical environment and the population biology of penguins, in particular, sea ice coverage and its impact on krill availability as a food source for penguins. Krill is a key food web species in the Antarctic oceans and accounts for nearly one hundred percent of the prey eaten by dominant predators such as baleen whales, seals and penguins. Analysis of long-term data sets has suggested that years of heavy winter sea ice favor krill recruitment, as larval krill find refuge and food in the sea ice habitat. It has also been observed that years of heavy sea ice favor Adelie penguin recruitment and not that of chinstrap penguins. Aspects of the work include analysis of diet samples, shipboard krill sampling, survival and recruitment studies of penguins, satellite tracking of penguins during the breeding season, and analysis of satellite sea ice images. Penguins are the key species used to monitor the impact of commercial fisheries activities in the region, so this study will provide useful information to the Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources, which is the part of the Antarctic Treaty System which focuses on fisheries management.