Gentoo penguins climbing slopes to the nesting colony on Ardley Island. (Image by Stephen Roberts)
Over the past 7000 years, gentoo penguins on the Antarctic Peninsula have been wiped out to near extinction by a volcanic eruption—not once, but three times, according to new research. The study also suggests it took the colony between 400 and 800 years to recover from each event. Researchers made this startling discovery while analyzing penguin guano that had accumulated in the sediments of the central lake on the Antarctic Peninsula. With the rise in temperatures and sea-ice depletion putting the existing penguin populations at risk, study authors underscore the importance of knowing what had influenced the colony’s numbers in the past.
Authors:
Stephen J. Roberts, Patrick Monien, Louise C. Foster, Julia Loftfield, Emma P. Hocking, Bernhard Schnetger, Emma J. Pearson, Steve Juggins, Peter Fretwell, Louise Ireland, Ryszard Ochyra, Anna R. Haworth, Claire S. Allen, Steven G. Moreton, Sarah J. Davies, Hans-Jürgen Brumsack, Michael J. Bentley & Dominic A. Hodgson
Corresponding author:
Stephen Roberts, Natural Environmental Research Council (NERC), Cambridge, UK, Email: sjro@bas.ac.uk
Original paper published in Nature Communications on April 11, 2017.
