Investigations of Abandoned Penguin Colonies in Antarctica

影响海洋生态系统中种群分布和长期成功的因素是目前研究南极气候和种群动态关系的人感兴趣的问题。该项目的重点是阿德利企鹅以及该物种对晚全新世气候变化的种群反应。这项研究将把生态、地质和古生物记录的数据与卫星图像分析结合起来，以检验这样一种假设，即阿德利企鹅几十年到几个世纪以来一直以可预测的方式对气候变化做出反应，海冰面积和海洋生产力的波动是衡量这些反应的主要参数。因此，古生态记录表明，企鹅过去对气候变化的反应应该反映出过去20到50年来随着区域变暖而观察到的今天的反应。这项研究将包括对南极洲沿海被遗弃的殖民地进行实地和实验室调查。将在罗斯海地区和南极半岛沿线对位于目前阿德利企鹅种群中心的野外地点进行挖掘。通过收集保存在这些遗址中的地表和地下骨骼、羽毛和蛋壳碎片以进行鉴定和放射性碳分析，将确定每个被遗弃殖民地的占领历史。从每个地点筛选出的沉积物将允许恢复代表企鹅以前的食物的有机遗骸(如鱿鱼喙和鱼耳石)。这些遗骸可以在统计上进行量化，以评估企鹅对猎物的消耗与过去气候变化时期的变化，这些变化在晚更新世和全新世的冰芯和海洋沉积物记录中得到了很好的记录。多学科方法为检验与人口分布和气候变化相关的假设的方法提供了力量。

Factors which influence the distribution and long-term success of populations in the marine ecosystem are of current interest to those studying the relationship between climate and population dynamics in Antarctica. The focus of this project is Adelie penguins and population response by this species to late Holocene climatic change. The study will integrate date from the ecological, geological and paleobiological records with satellite imagery analyses to test the hypothesis that Adelie penguins have been responding to climate change over decades to centuries in a predictable manner and that fluctuations in sea-ice extent and marine productivity are the primary parameters from which to measure these responses. Thus, past responses by penguins to climate change as indicated by the paleoecological record should reflect those observed today with regional warming over the past twenty to fifty years. The study will include field and laboratory investigations of abandoned colonies along coastal Antarctica. Excavations of field sites which are located within current population centers of Adelie penguins will be conducted in the Ross Sea Region and along the Antarctic Peninsula. The occupation history of each abandoned colony will be determined by collecting surface and subsurface bones, feathers, and eggshell fragments preserved in these sites for identification and radiocarbon analyses. Sediments sifted from each site will allow recovery of organic remains (such as squid beaks and fish otoliths) that represent the former diet of penguins. These remains can be quantified statistically to assess changes in prey consumption by penguins in relation to past episodes of climate change that are well documented for the late Pleistocene and Holocene in ice-core and marine-sediment records. The multidisciplinary approach lends strength to the approach to test hypotheses related to population distribution and climate change.