Published

Credit: PAL LTER

Credit: PAL LTER

Rapid warming in the WAP coincides with increases in gentoo penguin and decreases in Adélie penguin populations. While foraging ranges of Adélies and Gentoos overlap with each other and with krill density maxima near Palmer Station, the vertical grazing ranges of the two penguin species differ . This suggests that declines in Adélie penguin populations along the WAP are more likely due to direct (snowfall) and indirect (food web alterations) climate impacts on their life histories, rather than direct competition for food.

Learn more

  1. Cimino, MA et al. 2016. Climate-driven sympatry may not lead to foraging competition between congeneric top-predators. Scientific Reports. doi: 10.1038/srep18820
  2. Cimino, MA et al. 2019. The interaction between island geomorpholgy and environmental parameters drives Adélie penguin breeding phenology on neighboring islands near Palmer Station, Antarctica. Ecology and Evolution. doi: 10.1002/ece3.5481

Contact

Oscar Schofield
oscar@marine.rutgers.edu

Posted:  July 10, 2020