Increase in penguin populations during the Little Ice Age in the Ross Sea, Antarctica

Penguins are an important seabird species in Antarctica and are sensitive to climate and environmental changes. Previous studies indicated that penguin populations increased when the climate became warmer and decreased when it became colder in the maritime Antarctic. Here we determined organic marke...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Scientific reports 2013-08, Vol.3 (1), p.2472, Article 2472
Main Authors: Hu, Qi-Hou, Sun, Li-Guang, Xie, Zhou-Qing, Emslie, Steven D., Liu, Xiao-Dong
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
704/106/413
704/158/2165
704/158/2462
704/158/47
Animals
Antarctic Regions
Aquatic birds
Aquatic Organisms - growth & development
Climate
Climate change
Dominant species
Environmental changes
Humanities and Social Sciences
Ice ages
Latitude
multidisciplinary
Oceans and Seas
Population Growth
Pygoscelis adeliae
Science
Spheniscidae - growth & development
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Penguins are an important seabird species in Antarctica and are sensitive to climate and environmental changes. Previous studies indicated that penguin populations increased when the climate became warmer and decreased when it became colder in the maritime Antarctic. Here we determined organic markers in a sediment profile collected at Cape Bird, Ross Island, high Antarctic and reconstructed the history of Adélie penguin colonies at this location over the past 700 years. The region transformed from a seal to a penguin habitat when the Little Ice Age (LIA; 1500–1800 AD) began. Penguins then became the dominant species. Penguin populations were the highest during ca. 1490 to 1670 AD, a cold period, which is contrary to previous results in other regions much farther north. Different responses to climate change may occur at low latitudes and high latitudes in the Antarctic, even if for same species.
ISSN:2045-2322
2045-2322
DOI:10.1038/srep02472