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Winter Foraging Locations Of Southern Ocean Predators - sub antarctic islands

Entry ID: ASAC_2940

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Summary

Abstract: Metadata record for data expected from ASAC Project 2940
See the link below for public details on this project.

Public:
The extent of Antarctic winter sea-ice influences all aspects of the Antarctic marine food-web. We will use natural variations in inter-annual ice extent, to assess how a key component of that ecosystem, the predators, use the sea ice zone. Core foraging areas and dietary ... signals for three prominent Antarctic predators (King and Macaroni Penguins and Antarctic fur seals) will use newly developed, technology to track the animals, and stable isotopes to examine tropic linkages. Combined with satellite-derived sea-ice data this will lead to the development a model to predict how changing sea-ice patterns will influence Antarctic marine predator communities.

Project Objectives:
1. Use large samples of newly-developed (and tested) animal-borne miniature geolocating light level recorders to population level information on the spatial extent of movements of King Penguins, Macaroni Penguins and Antarctic fur seals, thereby quantifying the extent of the use of the winter pack-ice and associated waters by these abundant predators.
2. To quantify how changes in winter ice extent influence the location of core foraging areas for these species.
3. To develop models to investigate how changing ice condition in the future will influence the movements of these species and to examine a range of climate-change scenarios.

Taken from the 2007-2008 Progress Report:
No field work was conducted at Macquarie Island in the last 12 months. This was due to the decision by the state government to not issue permits for the work.

With the help of our colleagues from BAS we did however manage to deploy 20 GLS light loggers on Antarctic fur seals at South Georgia.

Taken from the 2008-2009 Progress Report:
Objective 1 has been revised to the study of Antarctic fur seals only (see below). Research is progressing well with 78 animals tracked in 2008 and a further 80 expected in 2009.
Objectives 2 and 3 will follow once field data is available for both years (May 2010).
Isotopic analysis of blood and whisker samples for the 2008 season will commence in May 2009 once samples have been received.

Taken from the 2010-2011 Progress Report:
Public summary of the season progress:
This study has quantified the response of the Antarctic fur seal (Arctocephalus gazella) to inter-annual variation in oceanographic and winter ice conditions. We have measured the winter spatial foraging patterns of 66 adult females from three circum-Antarctic populations over two years (2008, 2009) during 114 trips to sea, while simultaneously recording in situ water temperature. Stable isotope analysis of fur seal blood and whisker samples indicates that adult females feed on a range of lower (krill) to higher (fish and squid) trophic levels across their winter range. Broad-scale habitat preferences across the range of the species indicate the importance of shelf, ice edge, frontal and oceanic and continental upwelling features in determining winter foraging movements.

Related URL

Link: VIEW PROJECT HOME PAGE

Description: Public information for ASAC project 2940

Link: VIEW RELATED INFORMATION

Description: Citation reference for this metadata record and dataset

Geographic Coverage

(Click for Interactive Map)

Spatial coordinates

N: -45.0

S: -70.0

E: 180.0

W: -180.0

Temporal Coverage

Start Date: 2007-09-30

Stop Date: 2011-03-31

Location Keywords

OCEAN > SOUTHERN OCEAN

OCEAN > ATLANTIC OCEAN > SOUTH ATLANTIC OCEAN > SOUTH GEORGIA ISLAND

OCEAN > SOUTHERN OCEAN > MACQUARIE ISLAND

GEOGRAPHIC REGION > POLAR

Science Keywords

BIOSPHERE > TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEMS > ISLANDS

CRYOSPHERE > SEA ICE

ISO Topic Category

GEOSCIENTIFIC INFORMATION

IMAGERY/BASE MAPS/EARTH COVER

ELEVATION

Platform

MAPS

Instrument

DIGITIZER

Project

BOREAS > The Boreal Ecosystem-Atmosphere Study

EOSDIS > Earth Observing System Data Information System

ESIP > Earth Science Information Partners Program

Ancillary Keywords

SOILS

DRAINAGE CLASS

LANDSAT SATELLITE

Data Set Progress

COMPLETE

Data Center

THE OAK RIDGE NATIONAL LABORATORY (ORNL) DISTRIBUTED ACTIVE ARCHIVE CENTER (DAAC)

Data Center URL: http://daac.ornl.gov/
Dataset ID: 246

Data Center Personnel
Name: ORNL DAAC USER SERVICES OFFICE Phone: (865) 574-7447 Email: uso at daac.ornl.gov Contact Address: ORNL DAAC User Services Office Oak Ridge National Laboratory City: Oak Ridge Province or State: TN Postal Code: 37831-6407 Country: USA