Past penguin colony responses to explosive volcanism on the Antarctic Peninsula

Abstract

Changes in penguin populations on the Antarctic Peninsula have been linked to several environmental factors, but the potentially devastating impact of volcanic activity has not been considered. Here we use detailed biogeochemical analyses to track past penguin colony change over the last 8,500 years on Ardley Island, home to one of the Antarctic Peninsula's largest breeding populations of gentoo penguins. The first sustained penguin colony was established on Ardley Island c. 6,700 years ago, pre-dating sub-fossil evidence of Peninsula-wide occupation by c. 1,000 years. The colony experienced five population maxima during the Holocene. Overall, we find no consistent relationships with local-regional atmospheric and ocean temperatures or sea-ice conditions, although the colony population maximum, c. 4,000–3,000 years ago, corresponds with regionally elevated temperatures. Instead, at least three of the five phases of penguin colony expansion were abruptly ended by large eruptions from the Deception Island volcano, resulting in near-complete local extinction of the colony, with, on average, 400–800 years required for sustainable recovery.

Last Millennium Adélie Penguin Mortality and Colony Abandonment Events on Long Peninsula, East Antarctica

“…Abandoned penguin colonies have been studied around maritime Antarctica for the past 30 years. The abandonment of these colonies has various ages and is attributed to multiple climatic or environmental changes, including changes in sea level (Baroni & Hall, ; Baroni & Orombelli, ; Goodwin, ; Hall et al, ; Nie et al, ), atmospheric circulation (Nie et al, ), volcanic activity (S. J. Roberts et al, ), climatic cooling (Emslie, , ; Emslie & McDaniel, ; Emslie & Woehler, ) and resulting sea ice extension (Baroni & Orombelli, ; Emslie et al, , ), glacier advance (Berkman et al, ; Emslie et al, ), and increased snow/ice coverage (Emslie et al, ; Emslie & McDaniel, ). These changes correspond to climatic events on centennial or millennial time scales, such as the last glacial‐interglacial transition, neoglaciation, and the Little Ice Age.…”

Dicranodontium Schwabei (Bryophyta, Dicranaceae) Revisited: Some Taxonomic and Nomenclatural Considerations

“…These peat deposits are of particular importance in palaeoecological studies and in the reconstruction of climate history of this part of the austral polar region (Birkenmajer et al 1985;Van der Putten et al 2004, 2009Roberts et al 2017). On the South American mainland Ch.…”

The deglaciation of Barton Peninsula (King George Island, South Shetland Islands, Antarctica) based on geomorphological evidence and lacustrine records

“…Island documented in lacustrine sediments from Byers Peninsula(Björck, Sandgren, & Zale, 1991;Hodgson, Dyson, Jones, & Smellie, 1998; Toro et al 2013;Liu et al 2016;Antoniades et al 2018) and King George Island(Lee et al 2007;Roberts et al 2017), and marine sediments from the Scotia Sea(Moreton & Smellie, 1998) and Bransfield Basins(Fretzdorff & Smellie, 2002).…”