Niche partitioning of sympatric penguins by leapfrog foraging appears to be resilient to climate change.

ABSTRACT: Interspecific competition can drive niche partitioning along multidimensional axes, including allochrony. Competitor matching will arise where the phenology of sympatric species with similar ecological requirements responds to climate change at different rates such that allochrony is reduced. Our study quantifies the degree of niche segregation in foraging areas and depths that arises from allochrony in sympatric Adélie and chinstrap penguins and explores its resilience to climate change. Three-dimensional tracking data were sampled during all stages of the breeding season and were used to parameterise a behaviour-based model that quantified spatial overlap of foraging areas under different scenarios of allochrony. The foraging ranges of the two species were similar within breeding stages,

SUBMITTER: Clewlow HL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7379715 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature