Enhanced westerlies drove penguin movement at 1000 yr BP on Ardley Island, west Antarctic Peninsula

Abandonment of Penguin Subcolonies in the Late Nineteenth Century on Inexpressible Island, Antarctica

“…The biogenic elements that include Zn, Cr, Sr, Cu, and P are typical penguin‐derived element that can be used to separate the input of penguin guano and bedrock weathering material (Gao et al, 2019; Sun et al, 2000). Penguin‐derived elements including P are transported from marine to terrestrial system by penguin foraging and enter the sediment in the form of guano (Sands et al, 1998; Yang et al, 2019). Eventually, P is interpreted as reflecting the amount of guano input and thus the size of the penguin population (Gao et al, 2018; Huang et al, 2014, 2016; Sun et al, 2000).…”

“…Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences penguin foraging and enter the sediment in the form of guano (Sands et al, 1998;Yang et al, 2019). Eventually, P is interpreted as reflecting the amount of guano input and thus the size of the penguin population (Gao et al, 2018;Huang et al, 2014Huang et al, , 2016Sun et al, 2000).…”

“…Spatiotemporal variations of the population of Adélie penguins (Pygoscelis adelie) are controlled by changing oceanographic and climatic conditions (Croxall et al, 2002;Forcada et al, 2006;Gao et al, 2018;Roberts et al, 2017;Wilson et al, 2001;Yang et al, 2018Yang et al, , 2019. Sea ice (pack ice, fast ice) is one of the most important factors influencing the migration, colonization, and foraging success of penguins (Ainley et al, 2005(Ainley et al, , 2010Ballard et al, 2010Ballard et al, , 2019Emslie et al, 2003).…”

Seabird establishment during regional cooling drove a terrestrial ecosystem shift 5000 years ago

“…However, longterm monitoring of seabird populations in the South Atlantic and Southern Ocean typically only began in the 1950s, posing a challenge to understanding the long-term responses of seabirds to global change (5)(6)(7). Seabirds there today are sensitive to broad-scale physical forcing like the Southern Hemisphere westerly winds (SWW) (8)(9)(10) and linked to the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO)-mediated sea surface temperatures (SSTs), which can alter the functioning of ecosystems, such as pulses of marine primary productivity leading to bottom-up food web changes (11). Availability of breeding habitat and oceanographic processes play a key role in the redistribution and shifting abundances of seabird species.…”

“…Furthermore, it is difficult to disentangle the relative influence of recent climate change from the influence of over a century of threats from terrestrial habitat degradation, oil exploration, fishing, and whaling (2,13). Paleoecological reconstructions offer a promising way forward, providing information about the response of seabirds and their terrestrial habitats to past climate change (10,14). These natural experiments can inform conservation strategies, identifying populations or ecosystem processes at risk while contemporary threats may still be emerging (15).…”