Antarctic climate change: extreme events disrupt plastic phenotypic response in Adélie penguins

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dc.contributor.authorLescroël, Amélieen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorBallard, Granten_ZA
dc.contributor.authorGrémillet, Daviden_ZA
dc.contributor.authorAuthier, Matthieuen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorAinley, David Gen_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2015-12-20T16:06:06Z
dc.date.available2015-12-20T16:06:06Z
dc.date.issued2014en_ZA
dc.description.abstractIn the context of predicted alteration of sea ice cover and increased frequency of extreme events, it is especially timely to investigate plasticity within Antarctic species responding to a key environmental aspect of their ecology: sea ice variability. Using 13 years of longitudinal data, we investigated the effect of sea ice concentration (SIC) on the foraging efficiency of Adélie penguins ( Pygoscelis adeliae ) breeding in the Ross Sea. A 'natural experiment' brought by the exceptional presence of giant icebergs during 5 consecutive years provided unprecedented habitat variation for testing the effects of extreme events on the relationship between SIC and foraging efficiency in this sea-ice dependent species. Significant levels of phenotypic plasticity were evident in response to changes in SIC in normal environmental conditions. Maximum foraging efficiency occurred at relatively low SIC, peaking at 6.1% and decreasing with higher SIC. The 'natural experiment' uncoupled efficiency levels from SIC variations. Our study suggests that lower summer SIC than currently observed would benefit the foraging performance of Adélie penguins in their southernmost breeding area. Importantly, it also provides evidence that extreme climatic events can disrupt response plasticity in a wild seabird population. This questions the predictive power of relationships built on past observations, when not only the average climatic conditions are changing but the frequency of extreme climatic anomalies is also on the rise.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationLescroël, A., Ballard, G., Grémillet, D., Authier, M., & Ainley, D. G. (2014). Antarctic climate change: extreme events disrupt plastic phenotypic response in Adélie penguins. <i>PLoS One</i>, http://hdl.handle.net/11427/15926en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationLescroël, Amélie, Grant Ballard, David Grémillet, Matthieu Authier, and David G Ainley "Antarctic climate change: extreme events disrupt plastic phenotypic response in Adélie penguins." <i>PLoS One</i> (2014) http://hdl.handle.net/11427/15926en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationLescroël, A., Ballard, G., Grémillet, D., Authier, M., & Ainley, D. G. (2014). Antarctic climate change: extreme events disrupt plastic phenotypic response in Adélie penguins. PloS one, 9(1), e85291. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0085291en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Journal Article AU - Lescroël, Amélie AU - Ballard, Grant AU - Grémillet, David AU - Authier, Matthieu AU - Ainley, David G AB - In the context of predicted alteration of sea ice cover and increased frequency of extreme events, it is especially timely to investigate plasticity within Antarctic species responding to a key environmental aspect of their ecology: sea ice variability. Using 13 years of longitudinal data, we investigated the effect of sea ice concentration (SIC) on the foraging efficiency of Adélie penguins ( Pygoscelis adeliae ) breeding in the Ross Sea. A 'natural experiment' brought by the exceptional presence of giant icebergs during 5 consecutive years provided unprecedented habitat variation for testing the effects of extreme events on the relationship between SIC and foraging efficiency in this sea-ice dependent species. Significant levels of phenotypic plasticity were evident in response to changes in SIC in normal environmental conditions. Maximum foraging efficiency occurred at relatively low SIC, peaking at 6.1% and decreasing with higher SIC. The 'natural experiment' uncoupled efficiency levels from SIC variations. Our study suggests that lower summer SIC than currently observed would benefit the foraging performance of Adélie penguins in their southernmost breeding area. Importantly, it also provides evidence that extreme climatic events can disrupt response plasticity in a wild seabird population. This questions the predictive power of relationships built on past observations, when not only the average climatic conditions are changing but the frequency of extreme climatic anomalies is also on the rise. DA - 2014 DB - OpenUCT DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0085291 DP - University of Cape Town J1 - PLoS One LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2014 T1 - Antarctic climate change: extreme events disrupt plastic phenotypic response in Adélie penguins TI - Antarctic climate change: extreme events disrupt plastic phenotypic response in Adélie penguins UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/15926 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/15926
dc.identifier.urihttp://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0085291
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationLescroël A, Ballard G, Grémillet D, Authier M, Ainley DG. Antarctic climate change: extreme events disrupt plastic phenotypic response in Adélie penguins. PLoS One. 2014; http://hdl.handle.net/11427/15926.en_ZA
dc.language.isoengen_ZA
dc.publisherPublic Library of Scienceen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentPercy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithologyen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Scienceen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.rightsThis is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.en_ZA
dc.rights.holder© 2014 Lescroël et alen_ZA
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0en_ZA
dc.sourcePLoS Oneen_ZA
dc.source.urihttp://journals.plos.org/plosoneen_ZA
dc.subject.otherSea iceen_ZA
dc.subject.otherPenguinsen_ZA
dc.subject.otherForagingen_ZA
dc.subject.otherAntarcticaen_ZA
dc.subject.otherHabitatsen_ZA
dc.subject.otherIce shelfen_ZA
dc.subject.otherAnimal sexual behavioren_ZA
dc.subject.otherClimate Changeen_ZA
dc.titleAntarctic climate change: extreme events disrupt plastic phenotypic response in Adélie penguinsen_ZA
dc.typeJournal Articleen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceArticleen_ZA
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