Investigations of Abandoned Penguin Colonies in Antarctica

影响海洋生态系统中种群分布和长期成功的因素是研究南极洲气候与种群动态之间关系的人们当前感兴趣的问题。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人口反应。这项研究将把生态、地质和古生物学记录的数据与卫星图像分析结合起来，以检验以下假设：阿德利企鹅在几十年至几百年中一直以可预测的方式对气候变化作出反应，海冰范围和海洋生产力的波动是衡量这些反应的主要参数。因此，根据古生态学记录，企鹅过去对气候变化的反应应该反映出今天在过去20到50年中观察到的区域变暖。这项研究将包括对南极洲沿着被遗弃的殖民地进行实地和实验室调查。将在罗斯海地区和沿着南极半岛对位于阿德利企鹅现有种群中心内的实地进行考察。每个被遗弃的殖民地的占领历史将通过收集这些地点保存的表面和地下骨骼，羽毛和蛋壳碎片进行鉴定和放射性碳分析来确定。从每个地点筛选出的沉积物将允许恢复代表企鹅以前饮食的有机残留物（如鱿鱼喙和鱼耳石）。这些遗骸可以量化统计，以评估过去的气候变化事件，在晚更新世和全新世的冰芯和海洋沉积物记录中有很好的记录，企鹅的猎物消费的变化。多学科方法加强了检验与人口分布和气候变化有关的假设的方法。

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.