Geochemical record of high emperor penguin populations during the Little Ice Age at Amanda Bay, Antarctica.
Emperor penguins (Aptenodytes forsteri) are sensitive to the Antarctic climate change because they breed on the fast sea ice. Studies of paleohistory for the emperor penguin are rare, due to the lack of archives on land. In this study, we obtained an emperor penguin ornithogenic sediment profile (PI) and performed geochronological, geochemical and stable isotope analyses on the sediments and feather remains. Two radiocarbon dates of penguin feathers in PI indicate that emperor penguins colonized Amanda Bay as early as CE 1540. By using the bio-elements (P, Se, Hg, Zn and Cd) in sediments and stable isotope values (δ(15)N and δ(13)C) in feathers, we inferred relative population size and dietary change of emperor penguins during the period of CE 1540-2008, respectively. An increase in population size with depleted N isotope ratios for emperor penguins on N island at Amanda Bay during the Little Ice Age (CE 1540-1866) was observed, suggesting that cold climate affected the penguin's breeding habitat, prey availability and thus their population and dietary composition.
School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Anhui University, Hefei 230601, China; School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China. Electronic address: huangt@ahu.edu.cn.
Tao
T
Huang
School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China.
Lianjiao
L
Yang
School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China.
Zhuding
Z
Chu
School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China. Electronic address: slg@ustc.edu.cn.
Liguang
L
Sun
Third Institute of Oceanography, State Oceanic Administration, Xiamen 361005, China.
Xijie
X
Yin
D000818:Animals; D000864:Antarctic Regions; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000032:analysis; D004032:Diet; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000032:analysis*; D011156:Population Density; D046429:Spheniscidae / Q000502:physiology*
D015415:Biomarkers
Bio-elements; Emperor penguin; Foraging habitat; Little Ice Age; Sea ice; Stable isotope analysis