Do penguins care about their neighborhood? Population implications of bioerosion in Magellanic penguin, Spheniscus magellanicus, at Martillo Island, Beagle Channel, Argentina.

ABSTRACT: Intrinsic and extrinsic factors, such as bioerosion at nesting sites, regulate population dynamics and are relevant for the long-term conservation of penguins. Colony trends (between 2004-2022) were studied in a Magellanic penguin colony on Martillo Island, Beagle Channel, Argentina and compared between zones with contrasting degrees of erosion (high, medium, low). Individuals from each zone were characterized for foraging ecology, stress, and reproductive performance during the 2017-2018 breeding season to better understand the colony dynamics. Changes in nest abundance varied in magnitude between nesting zones with different characteristics of occupation time, density and erosion. Declines in nest abundance in the densest, most eroded and longest occupied zone suggests that environmental

SUBMITTER: Scioscia G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11575772 | biostudies-literature | 2024

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature