From warm to cold: migration of Adelie penguins within Cape Bird, Ross Island.

ABSTRACT: Due to their sensitivity to environmental change, penguins in Antarctica are widely used as bio-indicators in paleoclimatic research. On the basis of bio-element assemblages identified in four ornithogenic sediment profiles, we reconstructed the historical penguin population change at Cape Bird, Ross Island, for the past 1600 years. Clear succession of penguin population peaks were observed in different profiles at about 1400 AD, which suggested a high probability of migration within this region. The succession was most obviously marked by a sand layer lasting from 1400 to 1900 AD in one of the analyzed profiles. Multiple physical/chemical parameters indicated this sand layer was not formed in a lacustrine environment, but was marine-derived. Both isostatic subsidence and frequent storms u

SUBMITTER: Nie Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4650636 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature