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

罗斯海被认为贡献了南大洋很大一部分(~1/3)的初级生产力，也是南极海冰生态系统中类似的大部分顶级捕食者(如38%的阿德利人，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觅食，而这些生物是顶级捕食者不喜欢的食物来源。因此，指示所有浮游植物的遥感叶绿素被认为是预测企鹅觅食努力的相对较差的指标。这也与藻类组成对企鹅捕食压力非常重要的观点是一致的，这种压力是由磷虾介导的，可能会导致选择性的枯竭。这项合作研究开始使用一架配备了一系列传感器的自动滑翔机，并通过卫星叶绿素图像获得信息，将其与三维活动企鹅跟踪相结合，以找到它们喜欢的觅食地点。此外，还将研究磷虾的局部放牧压力对藻华出现和消失的影响。总体而言，这项研究的目的是调和和解释多年来对克罗齐尔角(罗斯岛)(顶层捕食者)企鹅觅食习性和策略的研究，以及磷虾及其支持的藻类食物网的动态。使用滑翔机回答主要是生态问题的风险为中到高，并具有潜在的变革性。

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.