the breeding population of chinstrap
2 has declined significantly as temperatures have rapidly warmed on the antarctic peninsula, according to researchers funded in part by the national science foundation (nsf). the study indicates that changing climatic conditions, rather than the impact of tourism, have had the greatest effect on the chinstrap population.
ron naveen,
3 of a nonprofit science and conservation organization, oceanites, inc., of chevy chase, md., documented the decline in a paper published in the journal polar biology. naveen and coauthor heather lynch, of
4 5 university, are researchers with the antarctic site
6 (asi).
the paper's findings are based on an analysis of data collected during fieldwork conducted in december 2011 at
7 island, one of antarctica's busiest tourist locations.
"we now know that two of the three predominant
1 species in the peninsula--chinstrap and adélie--are declining significantly in a region where, in the last 60 years, it's warmed by 3 degrees
9 (5 degrees fahrenheit)
10 and by 5 degrees celsius (9 degrees fahrenheit) in winter," said naveen. "by contrast, gentoo penguins are expanding both in numbers and in range. these divergent responses are an
11 focus of our inventory work effort."
the asi has been collecting and
12 antarctic peninsula-wide penguin population data since 1994, and these new findings have important implications both for the
13 of antarctic science and the management of antarctica by the antarctic treaty nations. the united states is a
signatory（签约国） to the treaty.
the inventory is supported in part by nsf's office of polar programs and also by public contributions. the project's fieldwork at deception island was assisted by a grant from the tinker foundation.
through polar programs, nsf carries out its presidential
14 to manage the u.s. antarctic program, which
15 all u.s. research on the southernmost continent and in the southern ocean.
asi is the only science project tracking penguin population changes throughout the entire antarctic peninsula region.
"our deception island work, using the yacht pelagic as our base, occurred over 12 days and in the harshest of conditions--persistent clouds, precipitation and high winds, the latter sometimes reaching
16 force and requiring a lot of patience waiting out the blows. but, in the end, we achieved the first-ever, one-season survey of all chinstraps breeding on the island," naveen said.
there has been
17 that tourism may have a negative impact on breeding chinstrap penguins--especially at deception island's largest chinstrap colony, known as baily head.
naveen
18 the deception island
19 effort. lynch, the inventory's chief scientist, undertook subsequent analyses.
the results and analyses, according to lynch, shed new light on the massive changes occurring in this region.
"our team found 79,849 breeding pairs of chinstrap penguins at deception, including 50,408 breeding pairs at baily head. combined with a simulation designed to capture
20 in an earlier population estimate, there is strong evidence to suggest a significant decline, greater than 50 percent, in the abundance of chinstraps breeding at baily head since 1986-87.
"the decline of chinstrap penguins at baily head is consistent with declines in this species throughout the region, including at sites that receive little or no tourism; further, as a consequence of regional environmental changes that currently represent the
8 influence on penguin
21, we cannot ascribe any direct link in this study between chinstrap declines and tourism."
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