Full circumpolar migration ensures evolutionary unity in the Emperor penguin.
Defining reliable demographic models is essential to understand the threats of ongoing environmental change. Yet, in the most remote and threatened areas, models are often based on the survey of a single population, assuming stationarity and independence in population responses. This is the case for the Emperor penguin Aptenodytes forsteri, a flagship Antarctic species that may be at high risk continent-wide before 2100. Here, using genome-wide data from the whole Antarctic continent, we reveal that this top-predator is organized as one single global population with a shared demography since the late Quaternary. We refute the view of the local population as a relevant demographic unit, and highlight that (i) robust extinction risk estimations are only possible by including dispersal rates and (ii) colony-scaled population size is rather indicative of local stochastic events, whereas the species' response to global environmental change is likely to follow a shared evolutionary trajectory.
Université de Strasbourg (UdS), Institut Pluridisciplinaire Hubert Curien, 23 rue Becquerel, 67087 Strasbourg Cedex 02, France.|Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), UMR 7178, 23 rue Becquerel, 67087 Strasbourg Cedex 02, France.|Centre Scientifique de Monaco (CSM), Département de Biologie Polaire, 8 Quai Antoine 1er, Monaco 98000, Principality of Monaco.|Laboratoire International Associé LIA-647 BioSensib, CSM-CNRS-UdS, 8 Quai Antoine 1er, Monaco 98000, Principality of Monaco.|Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis (CEES), Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo, Postboks, Blindern, Oslo 1066, Norway.
Robin
R
Cristofari
Department of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, University of Ferrara, Via Borsari 46, Ferrara 44121, Italy.
Giorgio
G
Bertorelle
Université de Strasbourg (UdS), Institut Pluridisciplinaire Hubert Curien, 23 rue Becquerel, 67087 Strasbourg Cedex 02, France.|Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), UMR 7178, 23 rue Becquerel, 67087 Strasbourg Cedex 02, France.
André
A
Ancel
Department of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, University of Ferrara, Via Borsari 46, Ferrara 44121, Italy.
Andrea
A
Benazzo
Université de Strasbourg (UdS), Institut Pluridisciplinaire Hubert Curien, 23 rue Becquerel, 67087 Strasbourg Cedex 02, France.|Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), UMR 7178, 23 rue Becquerel, 67087 Strasbourg Cedex 02, France.|Centre Scientifique de Monaco (CSM), Département de Biologie Polaire, 8 Quai Antoine 1er, Monaco 98000, Principality of Monaco.|Laboratoire International Associé LIA-647 BioSensib, CSM-CNRS-UdS, 8 Quai Antoine 1er, Monaco 98000, Principality of Monaco.
Yvon
Y
Le Maho
Center for Marine Biotechnology and Biomedicine, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, California 92093, USA.
Paul J
PJ
Ponganis
Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis (CEES), Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo, Postboks, Blindern, Oslo 1066, Norway.
Nils Chr
NC
Stenseth
British Antarctic Survey, Natutal Environment Research Council, High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0ET, UK.
Phil N
PN
Trathan
Centre Scientifique de Monaco (CSM), Département de Biologie Polaire, 8 Quai Antoine 1er, Monaco 98000, Principality of Monaco.|Laboratoire International Associé LIA-647 BioSensib, CSM-CNRS-UdS, 8 Quai Antoine 1er, Monaco 98000, Principality of Monaco.|Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis (CEES), Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo, Postboks, Blindern, Oslo 1066, Norway.
Jason D
JD
Whittington
Department of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, University of Ferrara, Via Borsari 46, Ferrara 44121, Italy.
Enrico
E
Zanetti
Ocean Acoustics Laboratory, Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Am Alten Hafen 26, Bremerhaven 27568, Germany.|Applied Ocean Physics and Engineering Department, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543, USA.|Biophysics Laboratory, Department of Physics, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Henkestrasse 91, Erlangen 91054, Germany.
Daniel P
DP
Zitterbart
Université de Strasbourg (UdS), Institut Pluridisciplinaire Hubert Curien, 23 rue Becquerel, 67087 Strasbourg Cedex 02, France.|Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), UMR 7178, 23 rue Becquerel, 67087 Strasbourg Cedex 02, France.|Centre Scientifique de Monaco (CSM), Département de Biologie Polaire, 8 Quai Antoine 1er, Monaco 98000, Principality of Monaco.|Laboratoire International Associé LIA-647 BioSensib, CSM-CNRS-UdS, 8 Quai Antoine 1er, Monaco 98000, Principality of Monaco.
Céline
C
Le Bohec
Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis (CEES), Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo, Postboks, Blindern, Oslo 1066, Norway.|Department of Botany, and Biodiversity Research, University of Vienna, Rennweg 14, Vienna A-1030, Austria.
Emiliano
E
Trucchi
D000220:Adaptation, Biological / Q000235:genetics*; D025041:Animal Migration / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D000864:Antarctic Regions; D005075:Biological Evolution; D057231:Climate Change; D005260:Female; D016678:Genome; D008297:Male; D011156:Population Density; D011157:Population Dynamics; D012098:Reproduction / Q000235:genetics*; D046429:Spheniscidae / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*