COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: Penguin Foraging Reveals Phytoplankton Spatial Structure in the Ross Sea

摘要罗斯海被认为对南大洋的初级生产力贡献了很大一部分（约1/3），也是南极海冰生态系统中相当大一部分顶级食肉动物（如38%的阿德利企鹅和28%的帝企鹅）的家园。该系统的营养通路在空间和时间上都是复杂的。罗斯海生态系统的一种情况是，磷虾以硅藻为食，而磷虾又是鱼类、企鹅和其他捕食者的首选食物。另一方面，Phaeocystis菌落导致翼足类和其他生物食草，而这些生物对顶级捕食者来说是不受欢迎的食物来源。遥感的叶绿素，显示所有的浮游植物，因此被认为是一个相对较差的预测企鹅觅食努力。这也与藻类物种组成对企鹅放牧压力非常重要的观点一致，磷虾介导，可能导致选择性枯竭。这项合作研究将使用一种自动滑翔机，它配备了一系列传感器，并通过卫星叶绿素图像与企鹅的三维主动跟踪相结合，以找到它们喜欢的觅食地点。研究了磷虾局部放牧压力对藻华出现和消失的影响。总的来说，这项研究的目的是调和和解释几年来对克罗泽角（罗斯岛）企鹅（顶级捕食者）的觅食习惯和策略的研究，以及磷虾和它们的支持藻类食物网的动态。使用滑翔机来回答一个主要的生态问题是有中等到高度的风险的，并且具有潜在的变革性。

AbstractThe Ross Sea is believed to contributes a huge portion (~1/3) of the primary productivity of the Southern Ocean and is home to a similar large portion of the top predators (e.g. 38% of Adelie, 28% of Emperor penguins) of the Antarctic sea ice ecosystem. The trophic pathways in this system are complex in both space and time. One scenario for the Ross Sea ecosystem is that diatoms are grazed by krill, which are in turn the preferred food of fish, penguins and other predators. Phaeocystis colonies, on the other hand lead to grazing by pteropods and other organisms that are a non-favoured food source for top predators. Remotely sensed chlorophyll, indicating all phytoplankton, is then suggested to be a relatively poor predictor of penguin foraging efforts. This is also consistent with notion that algal species composition is very important to penguin grazing pressure, mediated by krill, and perhaps resulting in selective depletion. This collaborative research sets out to use an autonomous glider, equipped with a range of sensors, and informed by satellite chlorophyll imagery to be combined with 3-dimenisonal active penguin tracking to their preferred foraging sites. The effect of localized grazing pressure of krill on the appearance and disappearance of algal blooms will also be followed. Overall the objective of the research is to reconcile and explain several years of the study of the foraging habits and strategies of (top predator) penguins at the Cape Crozier site (Ross Island), with the dynamics of krill and their supporting algal food webs. The use of a glider to answer a primarily ecological questions is subject to moderate to high risk, and is potentially transformative.