Diet of Ade´lie penguins (Pygoscelis adeliae) at Stranger Point (25 de Mayo/King George Island, Antarctica) over a 13-year period (2003?2015)

JUÁRES M.; CASAUX R.; CORBALAN A.; BLANCO G.; PEREIRA A.; PERCHIVALE P.; CORIA N.; SANTOS M.

POLAR BIOLOGY

SPRINGER

Lugar: Berlin; Año: 2017 p. 303 - 311

0722-4060

Abstract Knowledge of the feeding ecology of a species atlocal level is fundamental to determine the relationshipbetween the fluctuations in local marine resources andpopulation dynamics of predators. In this study, weexamined the diet of Ade´lie penguins (Pygoscelis adeliae)during the cre`che stage at the Stranger Point colony, SouthShetland Islands, Antarctica, over a 13-year period (2002/2003?2014/2015). Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) wasthe dominant prey for Ade´lie penguins during the cre`cheperiod (contribution: 100% of occurrence and[99.7% bymass). The fish component in the diet represented a smallproportion of the total prey (contribution: from 4 to 24% ofoccurrence but\0.15% by mass). A marked inter-annualvariability in the mass of stomach contents, the krill sizeconsumed and the proportion of juvenile krill wasobserved. Moreover, a possible recruitment event of krillwas recorded. A negative relationship between the size ofkrill in the diet and breeding success was found, suggestingthat population dynamics of krill also reflected changes inthe local availability of this crustacean. This work is thefirst long-term study of dietary parameters of Ade´lie penguinsfor the Stranger Point colony.