title: Habitat use and sex-specific foraging behaviour of Adélie penguins throughout the breeding season in Adélie Land, East Antarctica.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Marine predators are ecosystem sentinels because their foraging behaviour and reproductive success reflect the variability occurring in the lower trophic levels of the ecosystem. In an era of environmental change, monitoring top predators species can provide valuable insights into the zones of ecological importance that need to be protected. In this context, we monitored the Adélie penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae) as a bio-indicator near Dumont d'Urville, an area of the East Antarctic sector currently being considered for the establishment of a Marine Protected Area (MPA), using GPS-based tracking tags during the 2012/13 austral summer breeding season.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The habitat use and foraging areas of the penguins differed by breeding stage and sex and were strongly associated with patterns in bathymetry and sea-ice distribution. The first trips, undertaken during the incubation phase, were longer than those during the guard phase and were associated with the northern limit of the sea-ice extent. During the guard phase, birds strongly depended on access to a polynya, a key feature in Antarctic marine ecosystem, in the vicinity of the colony. The opening of the ice-free area was synchronous with the hatching of chicks. Moreover, a sex-specific use of foraging habitat observed only after hatching suggests sex-specific differences in the diet in response to intra-specific competition.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Sea-ice features that could be affected by the climate change were important factors for the use of foraging habitat by the Adélie penguins. The extent of the foraging area observed in this study is congruent with the area of the proposed MPA. However, both penguin behavior and their environment should be monitored carefully.
authors.affiliation: Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon, 46 allée d'Italie, 96364, Lyon, Cedex 07 France ; CNRS, UMR7178, 67037 Strasbourg, France.
authors.forename: Michel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Widmann
authors.affiliation: CNRS, UMR7178, 67037 Strasbourg, France ; Université de Strasbourg, IPHC, 23 rue Becquerel, 67087 Strasbourg, France ; Centre d'Etudes Biologiques de Chizé, CNRS UPR 1934, 79360 Villiers-en-Bois, France.
authors.forename: Akiko
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kato
authors.affiliation: Australian Antarctic Division, Department of the Environment, Australian Government, Channel Highway, Kingston, 7050 Australia ; Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS 7001 Australia.
authors.forename: Ben
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Raymond
authors.affiliation: Centre d'Etudes Biologiques de Chizé, CNRS UPR 1934, 79360 Villiers-en-Bois, France.
authors.forename: Frédéric
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Angelier
authors.affiliation: Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS 7001 Australia.
authors.forename: Benjamin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Arthur
authors.affiliation: Centre d'Etudes Biologiques de Chizé, CNRS UPR 1934, 79360 Villiers-en-Bois, France.
authors.forename: Olivier
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Chastel
authors.affiliation: CNRS, UMR7178, 67037 Strasbourg, France.
authors.forename: Marie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pellé
authors.affiliation: CNRS, UMR7178, 67037 Strasbourg, France ; Université de Strasbourg, IPHC, 23 rue Becquerel, 67087 Strasbourg, France.
authors.forename: Thierry
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Raclot
authors.affiliation: CNRS, UMR7178, 67037 Strasbourg, France ; Université de Strasbourg, IPHC, 23 rue Becquerel, 67087 Strasbourg, France ; Centre d'Etudes Biologiques de Chizé, CNRS UPR 1934, 79360 Villiers-en-Bois, France.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ropert-Coudert
keywords: Adélie Land; Adélie penguin; Bio-logging; Foraging behaviour; Marine Protected Areas; Polynya; Sea-ice distribution