Saturday, April 30, 2022

A 'sentinel species' provides an early indicator when an ecosystem is failing

Emperor penguins need exactly the right amount of ice. As read in Ashley Strickland's CNN article, April 29, 2022:

"Emperor penguins live in a delicate balance with their environment, there is a sea ice 'Goldilocks' zone," said study author Stephanie Jenouvrier, seabird ecologist and associate scientist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, in a statement. "If there is too little sea ice, chicks can drown when sea ice breaks up early; if there is too much sea ice, foraging trips become too long and more arduous, and the chicks may starve."

The chicks must shed their down before growing the waterproof feathers they use to swim — but if they are still covered in down when the ice breaks, they'll sink.

As top predators, emperor penguins serve as sentinel species, meaning they are ideal species to study in a fluctuating ecosystem because they can reveal if something is wrong. By studying these birds, Zitterbart and his team can learn about the impacts of the climate crisis in Antarctica.

August 2023 update

"Four out of five emperor penguin colonies analyzed in the Bellingshausen Sea, west of the Antarctic Peninsula, saw no chicks survive last year as the area experienced an enormous loss of sea ice, according to a new study published Thursday [August 24, 2023] in the journal Nature Communications Earth & Environment." — CNN

"Thousands Of Penguin Chicks Likely Killed By Sea Ice Breaking Up Early" The fate of the young emperor penguins is “a grim story,” a researcher studying the birds said. Hilary Hanson, HuffPost, Aug 26, 2023

"Not a single emperor penguin chick survived spring in parts of Antarctica," Laura Chung, Sydney Morning Herald, August 25, 2023

emperor penguins
Emperor Penguins by Terri Stalons from Pixabay

Other species

African wild dogs (see Mastodon post)

See also: "Re-envisioning Environment". It's an 8-minute read on Medium. Medium lets you read a certain number of stories for free every month. You may also consider a paid membership on the platform.

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