Rockhopper penguins as sentinels of ecosystem change in the subantarctic Southern Ocean

在海洋生境中，海鸟可作为海洋生态系统营养状况和生产力的重要指标。最近的研究指出了海洋生态系统的重要变化，其中一个对这种变化敏感的物种是南方跳岩企鹅Eudyptes chrysocome（世界自然保护联盟脆弱类别）。对近期和历史数据的分析表明，跳岩企鹅在变暖的海洋中生存和繁殖能力较差，气候变化可能会在繁殖期和非繁殖期的几个阶段影响它们。世界上超过三分之一的这种物种在福克兰群岛繁殖，那里的种群数量急剧下降，我们之前的研究（2006-2011）指出，在日益温暖的海洋温度下，生存几率降低，在更温暖的环境条件下，卵更轻。然而，这些变化的根本原因仍然鲜为人知。目前的项目与以前的研究有关，但我们将应用新技术，即更小的gps加速数据记录仪，来研究尚不清楚的繁殖季节阶段和觅食运动所消耗的能量，同时利用机器学习（即人工智能）方法来确定时间预算。粪便样品的化合物特异性稳定同位素分析和元条形码将用于研究繁殖周期不同阶段的饮食。我们还将使用延时相机，并通过“企鹅观察”（一个从相机图像中提取大规模数据并吸引公众参与的工具包）运用公民科学。总的来说，我们的目标是了解是什么让南方跳岩企鹅对变暖的海洋环境特别敏感。

In marine habitats, seabirds can serve as valuable indicators of marine ecosystem trophic state and productivity. Recent work has pointed out important changes in marine ecosystems, and one species that is sensitive to such changes is the Southern rockhopper penguin Eudyptes chrysocome (IUCN category vulnerable). Analyses of recent and historical data suggest that rockhopper penguins survive and reproduce poorer in a warming ocean, and that climate change may affect them in several stages of the breeding and non-breeding season. Over a third of the world population of this species breed in the Falkland Islands, where the populations show a particularly strong decline, and our previous studies (2006-2011) here have pointed out reduced survival probabilities under increasingly warm ocean temperatures and lighter eggs under warmer environmental conditions. However, the underlying causes of these changes are still poorly known. The present project ties in with previous studies but we will apply newly available technology, namely much smaller GPS-acceleration data loggers to study the stages of the breeding season that are still unknown and the energy used for foraging movements, making use also of Machine Learning (i.e. artificial intelligence) methods to determine time budgets. Compound-specific stable isotope analyses and metabarcoding of fecal samples will be used to study the diet during different stages of the breeding cycle. We will also employ time-lapse cameras and employ citizen science via “Penguin watch” – a toolkit for extracting large-scale data from camera imagery and engaging the public. Overall, we aim to understand what makes Southern rockhopper penguins particularly sensitive to warming ocean conditions.