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Content archived on 2024-05-29

Long-term foraging success in an Antarctic top-predator, the Adélie Penguin: effect of individual quality, colony size and access to prey

Objective

Polar Regions are highly sensitive to climate change and this raises real concern for the future of polar ecosystems. Some of the most important signals of global climate warming have come from Antarctica, the waters surrounding of which support one of Earth's most productive marine ecosystems. As integrators of food web changes, Antarctic marine top predators are reliable indicators of changes in marine food webs. Hence, the Life Time Reproductive Success (LRS) of top predators integrates environmental variability over large spatial and temporal scales, but is also affected by individual and colonial variability.

As part of an international project on the Adélie Penguin, we therefore propose to study:
(1) how individual quality is linked to differences in fo raging strategies,
(2) the extent to which colony size influences the LRS, and
(3) how high and low quality individuals cope with years of high environmental stress related to changing climate.

To achieve this, Ms Lescroël will work with a unique demographic data set of the Dr Ainley research group, involving 10 annual cohorts of marked birds at three colonies of disparate size in the Ross Sea, Antarctica. In known-age penguins, she will use state-of-the-art technology in the form of computerized weighbridges and passive transponders to assess body condition and foraging effort; time-depth-recorders, satellite transmitters and archival tags to identify individual foraging tactics.

This proposal would provide an exceptional opportunity to link demographic parameters and long-term data on predator provisioning strategies in a variable environment. Ms Lescroël will acquire skills in state-of-the-art analytical procedures that, when applied to CEBC-CNRS, will allow further insight into food-web response to climate change in the French Antarctic Territories. This project falls therefore into the 6th priority thematic area of FP6 and will initiate a long-term collaboration between the Dr Ainley group and the CEBC-CNRS.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

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Topic(s)

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Call for proposal

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FP6-2004-MOBILITY-6
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Funding Scheme

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OIF - Marie Curie actions-Outgoing International Fellowships

Coordinator

CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE
EU contribution
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Total cost

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Participants (1)

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