14 research outputs found

    Juvenile emperor penguin range calls for extended conservation measures in the Southern Ocean

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    To protect the unique and rich biodiversity of the Southern Ocean, conservation measures such as marine protected areas (MPAs) have been implemented. Currently, the establishment of several additional protection zones is being considered based on the known habitat distributions of key species of the ecosystems including emperor penguins and other marine top predators. However, the distribution of such species at sea is often insufficiently sampled. Specifically, current distribution models focus on the habitat range of adult animals and neglect that immatures and juveniles can inhabit different areas. By tracking eight juvenile emperor penguins in the Weddell Sea over 1 year and performing a meta-analysis including previously known data from other colonies, we show that conservation efforts in the Southern Ocean are insufficient for protecting this highly mobile species, and particularly its juveniles. We find that juveniles spend approximately 90% of their time outside the boundaries of proposed and existing MPAs, and that their distribution extends beyond (greater than 1500 km) the species' extent of occurrence as defined by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Our data exemplify that strategic conservation plans for the emperor penguin and other long-lived ecologically important species should consider the dynamic habitat range of all age classes

    No evidence of microplastic ingestion in emperor penguin chicks (Aptenodytes forsteri) from the Atka Bay colony (Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica)

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    Microplastic (500 μm using Attenuated Total Reflection Fourier-transform Infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy. A total of 85 putative particles, mostly in the shape of fibers (65.9 %), were sorted. However, none of the particles were identified as MP applying state-of-the-art methodology. Sorted fibers were further evidenced to originate from contamination during sample processing and analyses. We find that MP concentrations in the local food web of the Weddell Sea and Dronning Maud Land coastal and marginal sea-ice regions; the feeding grounds to chick-rearing emperor penguin adults, are currently at such low levels that no detectable biomagnification is occurring via trophic transfer. Being in contrast to MP studies on other Antarctic and sub-Antarctic penguin species, our comparative discussion including these studies, highlights the importance for standardized procedures for sampling, sample processing and analyses to obtain comparable results. We further discuss other stomach contents and their potential role for MP detection, as well as providing a baseline for the long-term monitoring of MP in apex predator species from this region

    Ecologie en mer du manchot empereur (Aptenodytes Forsteri) : stratégies spatio-temporelles de prospection et de recherche alimentaire et évaluation des outils méthodologiques et de conservation

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    Iconic species used to raise public awareness, the Emperor penguin is first and foremost a top predator and umbrella species playing a pivotal role in Antarctic ecosystems. Standing at the forefront of climate upheavals, much remains to be learned about the ecology, distribution, and activities at sea of the species. Biologging allows to refine our understanding of the interactions between a species and the different components (biotic and abiotic) of its environment, in particular with a view of management, conservation, and assessment of the adaptive capacity of populations to face global change.In this study, we develop and share new equipment methods that increase equipment and data collection duration, while reducing the disturbance of the equipped individuals. By carrying out a spatio-temporal analysis of the data collected on individuals of different life-history stages, reproductive status, and from different colonies spanning around Antarctica, we investigate the species’ foraging behaviours and strategies and assess the influence of environmental conditions and habitat on these parameters. Such knowledge acquisition allows us to assess the degree of protection of the species at the scale of the Southern Ocean and to discuss strategic plans for conservation and management, such as the establishment of networks of Marine Protected Areas around the Antarctic continent.Espèce emblématique régulièrement utilisée pour sensibiliser le public, le manchot empereur est avant tout un prédateur supérieur ainsi qu’une espèce parapluie qui joue un rôle clé au sein des écosystèmes antarctiques. En première ligne face au changement climatique et ses conséquences, il reste cependant beaucoup à apprendre sur la répartition et les activités en mer de cette espèce. L’utilisation du biologging permet d’affiner la compréhension des interactions existant entre une espèce et les différentes composantes (biotiques et abiotiques) de son environnement dans un souci notamment de gestion, de conservation et d’estimation des potentialités d’adaptation future aux changements globaux.Dans cette étude, nous développons et partageons de nouvelles méthodes d’équipement qui permettent une durée de suivi accrue et un dérangement réduit des individus équipés.Grâce à l’analyse spatio-temporelle des données récoltées par le suivi d’individus de différents âges, statuts reproducteurs et issus de différentes colonies autour de l’Antarctique, nous explorons les comportements et stratégies de prospection et de recherche alimentaire présents chez cette espèce, et examinons l’influence des conditions environnementales et de l’habitat sur ces paramètres. Ces informations nous permettent de plus d’évaluer le degré de protection de l’espèce à l’échelle de l’océan Austral et de discuter de plans stratégiques de conservation et gestion globale, telle que la mise en place de réseaux d’Aires Marines Protégées autour du continent Antarctique

    At-sea ecology of the Emperor penguin (Aptenodytes forsteri) : Foraging strategies and evaluation of methodological and conservation tools

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    Espèce emblématique régulièrement utilisée pour sensibiliser le public, le manchot empereur est avant tout un prédateur supérieur ainsi qu’une espèce parapluie qui joue un rôle clé au sein des écosystèmes antarctiques. En première ligne face au changement climatique et ses conséquences, il reste cependant beaucoup à apprendre sur la répartition et les activités en mer de cette espèce. L’utilisation du biologging permet d’affiner la compréhension des interactions existant entre une espèce et les différentes composantes (biotiques et abiotiques) de son environnement dans un souci notamment de gestion, de conservation et d’estimation des potentialités d’adaptation future aux changements globaux.Dans cette étude, nous développons et partageons de nouvelles méthodes d’équipement qui permettent une durée de suivi accrue et un dérangement réduit des individus équipés.Grâce à l’analyse spatio-temporelle des données récoltées par le suivi d’individus de différents âges, statuts reproducteurs et issus de différentes colonies autour de l’Antarctique, nous explorons les comportements et stratégies de prospection et de recherche alimentaire présents chez cette espèce, et examinons l’influence des conditions environnementales et de l’habitat sur ces paramètres. Ces informations nous permettent de plus d’évaluer le degré de protection de l’espèce à l’échelle de l’océan Austral et de discuter de plans stratégiques de conservation et gestion globale, telle que la mise en place de réseaux d’Aires Marines Protégées autour du continent Antarctique.Iconic species used to raise public awareness, the Emperor penguin is first and foremost a top predator and umbrella species playing a pivotal role in Antarctic ecosystems. Standing at the forefront of climate upheavals, much remains to be learned about the ecology, distribution, and activities at sea of the species. Biologging allows to refine our understanding of the interactions between a species and the different components (biotic and abiotic) of its environment, in particular with a view of management, conservation, and assessment of the adaptive capacity of populations to face global change.In this study, we develop and share new equipment methods that increase equipment and data collection duration, while reducing the disturbance of the equipped individuals. By carrying out a spatio-temporal analysis of the data collected on individuals of different life-history stages, reproductive status, and from different colonies spanning around Antarctica, we investigate the species’ foraging behaviours and strategies and assess the influence of environmental conditions and habitat on these parameters. Such knowledge acquisition allows us to assess the degree of protection of the species at the scale of the Southern Ocean and to discuss strategic plans for conservation and management, such as the establishment of networks of Marine Protected Areas around the Antarctic continent

    At-sea ecology of the Emperor penguin (Aptenodytes forsteri) : Foraging strategies and evaluation of methodological and conservation tools

    No full text
    Espèce emblématique régulièrement utilisée pour sensibiliser le public, le manchot empereur est avant tout un prédateur supérieur ainsi qu’une espèce parapluie qui joue un rôle clé au sein des écosystèmes antarctiques. En première ligne face au changement climatique et ses conséquences, il reste cependant beaucoup à apprendre sur la répartition et les activités en mer de cette espèce. L’utilisation du biologging permet d’affiner la compréhension des interactions existant entre une espèce et les différentes composantes (biotiques et abiotiques) de son environnement dans un souci notamment de gestion, de conservation et d’estimation des potentialités d’adaptation future aux changements globaux.Dans cette étude, nous développons et partageons de nouvelles méthodes d’équipement qui permettent une durée de suivi accrue et un dérangement réduit des individus équipés.Grâce à l’analyse spatio-temporelle des données récoltées par le suivi d’individus de différents âges, statuts reproducteurs et issus de différentes colonies autour de l’Antarctique, nous explorons les comportements et stratégies de prospection et de recherche alimentaire présents chez cette espèce, et examinons l’influence des conditions environnementales et de l’habitat sur ces paramètres. Ces informations nous permettent de plus d’évaluer le degré de protection de l’espèce à l’échelle de l’océan Austral et de discuter de plans stratégiques de conservation et gestion globale, telle que la mise en place de réseaux d’Aires Marines Protégées autour du continent Antarctique.Iconic species used to raise public awareness, the Emperor penguin is first and foremost a top predator and umbrella species playing a pivotal role in Antarctic ecosystems. Standing at the forefront of climate upheavals, much remains to be learned about the ecology, distribution, and activities at sea of the species. Biologging allows to refine our understanding of the interactions between a species and the different components (biotic and abiotic) of its environment, in particular with a view of management, conservation, and assessment of the adaptive capacity of populations to face global change.In this study, we develop and share new equipment methods that increase equipment and data collection duration, while reducing the disturbance of the equipped individuals. By carrying out a spatio-temporal analysis of the data collected on individuals of different life-history stages, reproductive status, and from different colonies spanning around Antarctica, we investigate the species’ foraging behaviours and strategies and assess the influence of environmental conditions and habitat on these parameters. Such knowledge acquisition allows us to assess the degree of protection of the species at the scale of the Southern Ocean and to discuss strategic plans for conservation and management, such as the establishment of networks of Marine Protected Areas around the Antarctic continent

    Juvenile emperor penguin range calls for extended conservation measures in the Southern Ocean

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    To protect the unique Southern Ocean biodiversity, conservation measures like marine protected areas (MPAs) are implemented based on the known habitat distribution of ecologically important species. However, distribution models focus on adults, neglecting that immatures animals can inhabit vastly different areas. Here, we show that current conservation efforts in the Southern Ocean are insufficient for ensuring the protection of the highly mobile Emperor penguin. We find that juveniles spend ∼90% of their time outside the boundaries of proposed and existing MPAs, and that their distribution extends far beyond (> 1500 km) the species’ extent of occurrence as defined by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. We argue that strategic conservation plans for Emperor penguin and long-lived ecologically important species must consider the dynamic habitat range of all age classes

    micrObs – A customizable time-lapse camera for ecological studies

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    International audienceCamera traps for motion-triggered or continuous time-lapse recordings are readily available on the market. For demanding applications in ecology and environmental sciences, however, commercial systems often lack flexibility to freely adjust recording time intervals, suffer from mechanical component wear, and can be difficult to combine with auxiliary sensors such as GPS, weather stations, or light sensors. We present a robust time-lapse camera system that has been operating continuously since 2013 under the harsh climatic conditions of the Antarctic and Sub-Antarctic regions. Thus far, we have recorded over one million images with individual cameras. The system consumes 122 mW of power in standby mode and captures up to 200,000 high-resolution (16 MPix) images without maintenance such as battery or image memory replacement. It offers time-lapse intervals between 2 s and 1 day, low-light or night-time power saving, and data logging capabilities for additional inputs such as GPS and weather data

    Biologging of emperor penguins – attachment techniques and associated deployment performance

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    International audienceAbstract An increasing number of marine animals are equipped with biologgers, to study their physiology, behaviour and ecology, often for conservation purposes. To minimise the impacts of biologgers on the animals’ welfare, the Refinement principle from the Three Rs framework ( Replacement, Reduction, Refinement ) urges to continuously test and evaluate new and updated biologging protocols. Here, we propose alternative and promising techniques for emperor penguin ( Aptenodytes forsteri ) capture and on-site logger deployment that aim to mitigate the potential negative impacts of logger deployment on these birds. We equipped adult emperor penguins for short-term (GPS, Time-Depth Recorder (TDR)) and long-term ( i . e . planned for one year) deployments (ARGOS platforms, TDR), as well as juvenile emperor penguins for long-term deployments (ARGOS platforms) in the Weddell Sea area where they had not yet been studied. We describe and qualitatively evaluate our protocols for the attachment of biologgers on-site at the colony, the capture of the animals and the recovery of the devices after deployment. We report unprecedented recaptures of long-term equipped adult emperor penguins (50% of equipped individuals recaptured after 290 days). Our data demonstrate that the traditional technique of long-term attachment by gluing the biologgers directly to the back feathers is detrimental to the birds. It causes excessive feather breakage and the loss of the devices at an early stage. We therefore propose an alternative method of attachment for back-mounted devices. This technique led to successful year-round deployments on 37.5% of the equipped juveniles. Finally, we also disclose the first deployments of leg-bracelet mounted TDRs on emperor penguins. Our findings highlight the importance of monitoring potential impacts of biologger deployments on the animals and the need to remain critical towards established and new protocols

    Attachment of biologging devices on emperor penguins: links to additional files

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    Adult and juvenile emperor penguins (Aptenodytes forsteri) were fitted with different type of loggers (GPS, TDR, ARGOS) at Atka Bay colony (Queen Maud Land), Weddell Sea coast, in summer season 2017-2018 & 2018-2019. Capture, handling and deployment techniques are shared through several additional files

    Remote sensing of emperor penguin abundance and breeding success

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    Emperor penguins (Aptenodytes forsteri) are under increasing environmental pressure. Monitoring colony size and trends of this Antarctic seabird relies primarily on satellite imagery recorded near the end of the breeding season, when illumination levels are sufficient to capture images, but colony occupancy is highly variable. To correct population estimates for this variability, we develop a phenological model that accurately predicts the number of breeding pairs and fledging chicks, as well as key phenological events such as arrival, hatching and foraging times, from as few as six data points from a single season. The ability to extrapolate occupancy from sparse data makes the model particularly useful for monitoring remotely sensed animal colonies where ground-based population estimates are very rare or unavailable. Teaser The Emperor penguin becomes the Southern Ocean's canary in a coal mine through remote sensing its annual breeding success
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