"A new study of 19,000 king penguins in a sub-Antarctic island chain found their breeding is starting 19 days earlier than it did in 2000. Mating earlier has increased the breeding success rate by 40%, according to a study in Wednesday's journal Science Advances."
"Having a species like the king penguin adapt so well to seasonal shifts and timing changes "is unprecedented," said study co-author Celine Le Bohec, a seabird ecologist at the French science agency CNRS. "It's quite striking." Unlike other penguins - which are threatened with dwindling numbers because of earlier breeding - the king penguin has the ability to breed from late October to March."
"They are succeeding even though the water is warming and the food web that they rely on is changing with it, said Le Bohec and study lead author Gaël Bardon, a seabird ecologist at the Scientific Centre of Monaco. "They can adjust really well their foraging behavior," Bardon said."
Climate warming has disrupted reproductive timing across species, typically creating harmful mismatches when predators, prey, and pollinators adapt at different rates. King penguins represent a rare exception to this pattern. A study of 19,000 king penguins on a sub-Antarctic island chain reveals they have shifted their breeding season 19 days earlier since 2000, resulting in a 40% increase in breeding success. This adaptation is unprecedented among seabirds. Unlike other penguin species facing population declines from earlier breeding, king penguins possess extended breeding flexibility from late October through March, allowing them to capitalize on seasonal shifts. Their success persists despite warming waters and changing food webs, attributed to their ability to adjust foraging behavior and exploit different feeding locations.
#climate-change-phenology #king-penguins-adaptation #breeding-success #species-resilience #ecological-timing-mismatch
Read at Fortune
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]