CAREER: Foraging Ecology and Physiology of Emperor Penguins in the Ross Sea

第一部分：非技术概述了解动物寻找和获取食物的机制是生态学的一个基本问题。海洋捕食者的生存和成功取决于它们在多变或变化的环境中定位猎物的能力。要做到这一点，捕食者需要能够根据它们遇到的条件来调整觅食行为。帝企鹅是南极洲依赖冰的顶级捕食者。然而，它们很容易受到环境变化的影响，环境变化会改变食物网或海冰覆盖范围，环境变化可能会导致企鹅觅食行为的变化，最终导致生存和繁殖成功。尽管帝企鹅在南大洋生态系统中很重要，但人们对帝企鹅寻找和获取食物的具体机制知之甚少。这项研究结合了一套技术和分析工具，以获得关于罗斯海企鹅生活史关键时期，特别是雏鸟饲养后期的觅食能量学、生态学和栖息地利用的基本知识。在这段时间里，能源管理尤其关键，因为父母需要养活自己和快速成长的后代，同时受限于殖民地附近的地区。企鹅的生态和栖息地偏好也将在蜕皮后和通过早期繁殖进行评估。这项研究填补了关于企鹅在这些关键时期的能量平衡、饮食和栖息地利用的重要生态学知识空白。最后，该项目通过培训本科生、研究生和博士后研究员，进一步实现了NSF培养新一代科学家的目标。公共外展活动将与NSF资助的另一个项目保持一致，该项目旨在提供针对代表性不足群体的课外和夏令营项目的科学培训。第二部分：技术概述本项目将利用生态学理论框架，在两个关键的生活史阶段，确定觅食帝企鹅的行为和生理变异，这些变异可以直接与个体在海洋环境中的成功联系在一起。首先，这个项目将使用精细的运动和视频数据记录器调查克罗泽角帝企鹅在后期养鸡的高能量生活史阶段的觅食能量学、生态学和栖息地利用情况。具体地说，这项研究将1)使用最佳觅食理论框架估计觅食效率与觅食行为和饮食的关系，以确定哪些环境或生理限制影响觅食行为；2)调查帝企鹅表现出的个体间和个体内行为变异性，这对于预测这些企鹅对环境变化的适应能力至关重要；3)将企鹅觅食效率数据与环境数据相结合，以确定重要的栖息地。接下来，研究人员将使用卫星连接的数据记录器，研究蜕皮后和早期繁殖过程中的生态和栖息地偏好。该团队将：1)调查企鹅在三个月的蜕皮后和初冬觅食过程中的个体间和个体内的行为变异性；2)将企鹅的行为数据与环境数据相结合，以确定当企鹅不受限制地返回栖息地喂食雏鸟时，哪些环境特征表明了栖息地的偏好。这些精细和粗略的数据将与气候预测结合起来，创建可预测的栖息地模型。该职业项目的教育目标旨在使用调查南极生态系统中的帝企鹅时产生的数据和视频来激励、参与和培训下一代科学家。这包括开发两个大学课程，培训本科生和研究生，以及与NSF资助的“极地扫盲：青年参与和学习的典范”计划合作，在课外和夏令营课程中开发针对不应得和代表不足的群体的课程。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Part I: Non-technical SummaryUnderstanding the mechanisms that animals use to find and acquire food is a fundamental question in ecology. The survival and success of marine predators depends on their ability to locate prey in a variable or changing environment. To do this the predators need to be able to adjust foraging behavior depending on the conditions they encounter. Emperor penguins are ice-dependent, top predators in Antarctica. However, they are vulnerable to environmental changes that alter food web or sea ice coverage, and environmental change may lead to changes in penguin foraging behavior, and ultimately survival and reproduction success. Despite their importance in the Southern Ocean ecosystem, relatively little is known about the specific mechanisms Emperor penguins use to find and acquire food. This study combines a suite of technological and analytical tools to gain essential knowledge on Ross Sea penguin foraging energetics, ecology, and habitat use during critical periods in their life history, especially during late chick-rearing periods. Energy management is particularly crucial during this time as parents need to feed both themselves and their rapidly growing offspring, while being constrained to regions near the colony. Penguin ecology and habitat preference will also be evaluated after the molt and through early reproduction. This study fills important ecological knowledge gaps on the energy balance, diet, and habitat use by penguins during these critical periods. Finally, the project furthers the NSF goals of training new generations of scientists through training of undergraduates, graduate students and a postdoctoral researcher. Public outreach activities will be aligned with another NSF funded project designed to provide science training in afterschool and camp programs that target underrepresented groups. Part II: Technical summaryThis project will identify behavioral and physiological variability in foraging Emperor penguins that can be directly linked to individual success in the marine environment using an ecological theoretical framework during two critical life history stages. First, this project will investigate the foraging energetics, ecology, and habitat use of Emperor penguins at Cape Crozier using fine-scale movement and video data loggers during the energetically demanding life history phase of late chick-rearing. Specifically, this study will 1) Estimate the relationship of foraging efficiency to foraging behavior and diet using an optimal foraging theory framework to identify what environmental or physiological constraints influence foraging behavior; 2) Investigate the inter- and intra-individual behavioral variability exhibited by emperor penguins, which is essential to predict how resilient these penguins are to environmental change; and 3) Integrate penguin foraging efficiency data with environmental data to identify important habitat. Next the researchers will study the ecology and habitat preference after the molt and through early reproduction using satellite-linked data loggers. The team will: 1) Investigate penguin inter- and intra-individual behavioral variability during the three-month post-molt and early winter foraging trips; and 2) Integrate penguin behavioral data with environmental data to identify which environmental features are indicative of habitat preference when penguins are not constrained to returning to the colony to feed a chick. These fine- and coarse-scale data will be combined with climate predictions to create predictive habitat models. The education objectives of this CAREER project are designed to inspire, engage, and train the next generation of scientists using the data and video generated while investigating Emperor penguins in the Antarctic ecosystem. This includes development of two university courses, training of undergraduate and graduate students, and a collaboration with the NSF funded “Polar Literacy: A model for youth engagement and learning” program to develop after school and camp curriculum that target undeserved and underrepresented groups.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.