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

虽然通常会跟踪种群的变化以衡量气候或栖息地变化的影响，但这个过程涉及个体在应对环境变化时的反应。在对阿德利企鹅进行的一项跨越13个繁殖季节的研究中，结果表明，在一个群体中，只有20%的个体成功地饲养了后代，而且它们这样做是因为它们堪称典范的觅食熟练。此外，在最大的群体中觅食似乎需要更多的努力，因为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的技能。当情况特别令人望而生畏时，移民人数急剧增加，这与长期以来认为阿德利企鹅高度嗜好的假设背道而驰。该研究项目将1)确定年龄、经验和生理因素对个体觅食效率的影响；2)确定年龄、经验和个体质量对种群在不同环境和竞争条件下繁殖成功和存活的影响；3)建立罗斯-博福特岛集合种群动态的综合模型。更广泛的影响包括对实习生的培训、通过非常成功的项目网站penguinScience ence.com继续进行公众宣传、编写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.