Project 4184
Project |
4184 |
Chief Investigator |
BURRIDGE, Dr Christopher (Chris) - University of Tasmania |
Title |
Conservation genetics of Antarctic seabirds and seals: population connectivity and past glacial refugia |
Project aims
Project gallery
Project Summary of the Season 2012/13
Project Summary of the Season 2013/14
Project Summary of the Season 2014/15
We have also discovered that penguins spanning 8000 kilometres of coastline are interbreeding, suggesting they migrate much further around Antarctica than previously thought. This finding has important implications for forecasting studies that have so far considered breeding colonies as isolated units.
Final Summary of Project Achievements
During the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), the sea ice surrounding Antarctica extended nearly two times farther north than at present and temperatures were about 13 degrees colder than today. Our results showed that the two penguin species had reduced populations during the last ice age, probably surviving as remnant populations in refugia associated with polynyas (areas of open water in the sea ice) where they could feed. However their populations have increased dramatically in size over the past 10,000 years following the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM).
In contrast to penguins, Snow petrels and Weddell seals seem to have been more robust, having endured the LGM with large population sizes which continue to the present day. Their success through the last ice age may be related to either their capacity to tolerate changes in climate or, in the case of the Snow petrels, the ability to fly and access a range of food sources.
Our results show that traits characteristic to each species can influence their response to the same environmental events, despite broad ecological similarities among species. Such knowledge is important as we develop strategies to conserve Antarctic seabird and seal populations under current environmental change.
Category 1: Peer-reviewed literature
Younger J.L., Clucas G.V., Kooyman G., Wienecke B., Rogers A.D., Trathan P.N., Hart T., Miller K.J. (2015) Too much of a good thing; sea ice extent may have forced Emperor penguins into refugia during the last glacial maximum, Global Change Biology 21(6). 2215–2226; [Ref: 15692]
Younger J.L., Emmerson L.M., Miller K.J. (2015) The influence of historical climate changes on Southern Ocean marine predator populations: a comparative analysis, Global Change Biology .; [Ref: 15693]
Younger J., Emmerson L., Southwell C., Lelliott P., Miller K. (2015) Proliferation of East Antarctic Adélie penguins in response to historical deglaciation, BMC Evolutionary Biology 15:236. .; [Ref: 15760]
Younger J.L., van den Hoff J., Wienecke B., Hindell M., Miller K.J. (2016) Contrasting responses to a climate regime change by sympatric, ice-dependent predators, BMC Evolutionary Biology 16:61. .; [Ref: 15761]
Clucas G.V., Younger J.L., Kao D.M., Rogers A.D., Handley J., Miller G.D., Jouventin P., Nolan P., Gharbi K., Miller K.J., Hart T. (2016) Dispersal in the sub-Antarctic: king penguins show remarkably little population genetic differentiation across their range, BMC Evolutionary Biology 16. 211; [Ref: 15832]