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

罗斯海被认为贡献了南大洋初级生产力的很大一部分（约1/3），也是南极海冰生态系统中类似大部分顶级捕食者（例如38%的阿德利企鹅，28%的帝企鹅）的家园。该系统中的营养途径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，硅藻被磷虾吃掉，而磷虾又是鱼类、企鹅和其他捕食者的首选食物。另一方面，棕囊藻群落导致翼足类和其他生物的放牧，这些生物是顶级捕食者不喜欢的食物来源。遥感叶绿素，表明所有的浮游植物，然后建议是一个相对较差的预测企鹅觅食的努力。这也是一致的概念，藻类物种组成是非常重要的企鹅放牧压力，介导的磷虾，并可能导致选择性枯竭。这项合作研究将使用一种配备了一系列传感器的自主滑翔机，并通过卫星叶绿素图像与三维主动企鹅跟踪相结合，以确定它们的首选觅食地点。还将跟踪磷虾局部放牧压力对藻华出现和消失的影响。总的来说，研究的目标是调和和解释几年的觅食习惯和策略（顶级捕食者）企鹅在克罗齐角网站（罗斯岛）的研究，与磷虾的动态和他们的支持藻类食物网。使用滑翔机来回答一个主要的生态问题是受到中度到高度的风险，是潜在的变革。

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.