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National Science Foundation Award #0443751

Penguins as Monitors of the Krill-centric Southern Ocean Marine Ecosystem

Investigator(s):

Wayne Trivelpiece (PI) ; Susan Trivelpiece (Co-PI) ; George Watters (Co-PI)

Sponsor:

NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service, CA 92037

Start Date/Expiration Date

2005-09-15 to 2006-08-31 (amended 2005-09-13)

Awarded Amount to Date:

$150,575

Abstract: The focus of this long-term research has been a comparative study of the breeding biology, foraging ecology, and demography of Adelie, gentoo and chinstrap penguin. (Pygoscelis adeliae, P. papua and P. antarctica, respectively) at Admiralty Bay, South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. Long-term data acquired annually since 1977 on these species including survival and recruitment, population size and breeding success, diets and foraging ecology, provide clear evidence linking offshore biological and physical processes to their effects on dependent predators in the Southern Ocean. These populations have exhibited fluctuations in abundance that have been related to long-term changes in environmental conditions, in particular sea ice coverage and its effects on krill availability. The present research will continue the long-term research to test hypotheses relating penguin breeding biology, foraging ecology and demography to environmental variability during the breeding season. In addition, the work will be expanded further address questions on the distribution and trophic interactions among the three species during the winter period. The approaches involve three foci: correlative analysis, winter ecology and population-dynamics modeling. Correlative analysis will be used to detect inter-annual trends in the predator data parameters over the 20-30 year periods for which there are data individual parameters. Winter studies will involve tracking foraging movements using satellite-tags and fatty acid signatures in egg yolk lipids will be used to examine the winter diets. The results from these studies will be incorporated into population-dynamic models. This study is one of the few ongoing research projects that have the historical data needed, from both land-based predator studies and marine surveys, to examine the effect of environmental variability on predator-prey interactions in the Southern Ocean. In terms of broader impacts, this research is a major contributor to the Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources Ecosystem Monitoring Program, an international effort designed in the mid-1980s to provide data for management purposes that would detect, monitor and predict the potential impacts of a new krill fishery on the prey (krill) and dependent predators (penguins, seals, whales) in the Southern Ocean. A group of key monitoring species were identified that were both obligate krill consumers and easily studied, among them were the main krill consuming genus, the Pygoscelis penguins. This project is jointly supported by the National Science Foundation and the National Marine Fisheries Service.

NSF Org:

ANT - Antarctic Sciences Section

Award Number:

0443751

Award Instrument:

Interagency Agreement

Program Manager:

Roberta L. Marinelli
ANT Antarctic Sciences Section
OPP Office of Polar Programs

NSF Program(s):

ANTARCTIC BIOLOGY & MEDICINE

Field Application(s):

Polar Programs-Related

Program Reference Code(s):

UNASSIGNED, 0000

Program Element Code(s):

5111