COLLABORATIVE: Adelie Penguin Response to Climate Change at the Individual, Colony and Metapopulation Levels

虽然跟踪种群的变化通常是为了衡量气候或栖息地变化的影响，但这一过程涉及个体对环境变化的应对。在一项对阿德利企鹅跨越13个繁殖季节的研究中，结果表明，在一个群体中，只有20%的企鹅成功地养育了后代，这是因为它们的觅食能力堪称典范。此外，在最大的群体中觅食似乎需要更多的努力，在那里种内竞争比在小群体中更高，而且在环境压力时期也需要更熟练。当环境特别恶劣时，移居海外的企鹅数量就会急剧增加，这与长期以来人们认为的阿迪斯曼企鹅非常有爱心的观点相左。研究项目将：(1)确定年龄、经验和生理对个体觅食效率的影响；2)在不同的环境和竞争条件下，确定年龄、经验和个体素质对群体繁殖成功和生存的影响；3)建立Ross-Beaufort岛元种群动态的综合模型。更广泛的影响包括培训实习生，通过非常成功的项目网站企鹅科学网站继续向公众宣传，开发课堂材料和其他基于标准的教学资源。

While changes in populations typically are tracked to gauge the impact of climate or habitat change, the process involves the response of individuals as each copes with an altered environment. In a study of Adelie penguins that spans 13 breeding seasons, results indicate that only 20% of individuals within a colony successfully raise offspring, and that they do so because of their exemplary foraging proficiency. Moreover, foraging appears to require more effort at the largest colony, where intraspecific competition is higher than at small colonies, and also requires more proficiency during periods of environmental stress. When conditions are particularly daunting, emigration dramatically increases, countering the long-standing assumption that Adélie penguins are highly philopatric. The research project will 1) determine the effect of age, experience and physiology on individual foraging efficiency; 2) determine the effect of age, experience, and individual quality on breeding success and survival in varying environmental and competitive conditions at the colony level; and 3) develop a comprehensive model for the Ross-Beaufort Island metapopulation dynamics. Broader impacts include training of interns, continuation of public outreach through the highly successful project website penguinscience.com, development of classroom materials and other standards-based instructional resources.