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Projected poleward shift of king penguins' (Aptenodytes patagonicus) foraging range at the Crozet Island, southern Indian Ocean
journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-18, 01:44 authored by Peron, C, Weimerskirch, H, Bost, C-ASeabird populations of the Southern Ocean have been responding to climate change for the last three decades and demographic models suggest that projected warming will cause dramatic population changes over the next century. Shift in species distribution is likely to be one of the major possible adaptations to changing environmental conditions. Habitat models based on a unique long-term tracking dataset of king penguin (Aptenodytes patagonicus) breeding on the Crozet Islands (southern Indian Ocean) revealed that despite a significant influence of primary productivity and mesoscale activity, sea surface temperature consistently drove penguins’ foraging distribution. According to climate models of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the projected warming of surface waters would lead to a gradual southward shift of the more profitable foraging zones, ranging from 25 km per decade for the B1 IPCC scenario to 40 km per decade for the A1B and A2 scenarios. As a consequence, distances travelled by incubating and brooding birds to reach optimal foraging zones associated with the polar front would double by 2100. Such a shift is far beyond the usual foraging range of king penguins breeding and would negatively affect the Crozet population on the long term, unless penguins develop alternative foraging strategies.
History
Publication title
Proceedings of the Royal Society of London BVolume
279Issue
1738Pagination
2515-2523ISSN
0962-8452Department/School
Institute for Marine and Antarctic StudiesPublisher
Royal Soc LondonPlace of publication
6 Carlton House Terrace, London, England, Sw1Y 5AgRights statement
Copyright 2012 The Royal SocietyRepository Status
- Restricted