POTENTIAL PHENOLOGICAL RESPONSES TO ENVIRONMENTAL VARIABILITY AND CHANGE FOR ADÉLIE PENGUINS

Phenological changes are touted to be an early indication of species response to environmental change and have been reported for a range of species around the globe. In Antarctica, there is a clear indication of phenological changes for the Adélie penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae) with contrasting trends in clutch initiation dates reported for populations on opposite sides of Antarctica. Such shifts in breeding phenology can be indicative of environmental change when cues for breeding initiation are tightly linked with environmental conditions or may reflect other underlying causes such as changes in a species food supply. Here we outline the underlying factors which can affect the timing of various phenophases of the breeding cycle and describe shifts in Adélie penguin breeding phenology reported at different locations around the Antarctic continent.