Pygoscelis penguin diets on King George Island, South Shetland Islands, with a special focus on the krill Euphausia superba

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Panasiuk ◽  
Justyna Wawrzynek-Borejko ◽  
Aleksandra Musiał ◽  
Małgorzata Korczak-Abshire
Keyword(s):  
Euphausia Superba ◽  
South Shetland Islands ◽  
Special Focus ◽  
King George Island ◽  
Pygoscelis Adeliae ◽  
Human Pressure ◽  
Shetland Islands ◽  
Pygoscelis Antarcticus ◽  
South Shetlands ◽  
The Antarctic

AbstractIn the krill-based ecosystem of the Antarctic, fluctuations in the distribution and abundance of Euphausia superba may have strong impacts on predator populations; thus, it is crucial to observe the feeding ecology of Antarctic predators, especially in the light of climate change and increasing human pressure. We determined the composition of euphausiid species in diet samples collected from Adélie (Pygoscelis adeliae), chinstrap (Pygoscelis antarcticus) and gentoo (Pygoscelis papua) penguins on King George Island (South Shetlands Islands) during a breeding season. For all three penguin species, euphausiids (mainly E. superba) represented almost the entirety of researched stomach samples (i.e. 99.9% in the case of Adélie and chinstrap penguins), while gentoo penguins also proved to feed on fish (99.4% krill; 0.5% fish). Analysed material differed in the size of eaten E. superba specimens, with the smallest crustaceans consumed by Adélie penguins. Furthermore, we found differences in the ratio of consumed krill and krill size. Such disparities may be a result of sex-based differences and slight differences in feeding areas between the birds. Additionally, we noted some fragments of plastic debris in the investigated penguin diet samples.

scholarly journals New records of isopod species of the Antarctic Specially Managed Area No. 1, Admiralty Bay, South Shetland Islands

2017 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 409-419
Author(s):  
Karol Zemko ◽  
Krzysztof Pabis ◽  
Jacek Siciński ◽  
Magdalena Błażewicz
Keyword(s):  
Southern Ocean ◽  
New Records ◽  
South Shetland Islands ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
King George Island ◽  
Admiralty Bay ◽  
Shetland Islands ◽  
The Antarctic ◽  
First Time ◽  
Marine Basins

AbstractAdmiralty Bay (King George Island) is an Antarctic Specially Managed Area and one the most thoroughly studied small-scale marine basins in the Southern Ocean. Our study provides new data on the isopod fauna in this glacially affected fjord. Twelve species of isopods were recorded in this basin for the first time. Six of them were found for the first time in the region of the South Shetland Islands. The highest number of species new for Admiralty Bay were found in the families Munnopsidae (4 species) and Munnidae (3 species).

The Bellingshausen-Palmer meeting

Polar Record ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 51 (6) ◽  
pp. 644-654 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rip Bulkeley
Keyword(s):  
Antarctic Peninsula ◽  
South Shetland Islands ◽  
The South ◽  
Shetland Islands ◽  
Contentious Issue ◽  
Balanced Assessment ◽  
Absolute Certainty ◽  
South Shetlands ◽  
The Antarctic

ABSTRACTThe celebrated meeting between Captain Bellingshausen of the Imperial Russian Navy and the American sealing skipper Nathaniel Brown Palmer, off the South Shetland Islands in February 1821, has often been described by following just one or other of the two men's divergent and in some respects irreconcilable accounts. The most contentious issue is whether or not Palmer told Bellingshausen about the existence of a body of land to the south of the South Shetlands, known today as the Antarctic Peninsula. This note attempts to reach a balanced assessment of the matter by examining evidence from both sides, including several previously unconsidered items. It concludes that, although the truth will never be known with absolute certainty, the basic American account is more plausible, by the narrowest of narrow margins, than the Russian.

scholarly journals Two additions to the moss flora of the South Shetland Islands in the maritime Antarctic

2018 ◽  
Vol 87 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariusz Wierzgoń ◽  
Tomasz Suchan ◽  
Michał Ronikier
Keyword(s):  
South Shetland Islands ◽  
King George Island ◽  
Maritime Antarctic ◽  
The South ◽  
Shetland Islands ◽  
Bay Area ◽  
Leading Position ◽  
Glacial Cover ◽  
The Antarctic ◽  
First Time

<em>Tortella fragilis</em> (Drumm.) Limpr. (Pottiaceae) and <em>Bryum nivale</em> Müll. Hal. (Bryaceae) are recorded for the first time from the South Shetland Islands in the northern maritime Antarctic. They were discovered in the Admiralty Bay area on King George Island, the largest island of this archipelago. The two species are briefly characterized morphologically, their habitats are described, and their distribution in the Antarctic is mapped. Discovery of these species has increased the documented moss flora of King George Island to 67 species, strengthening it in the leading position among individual areas with the richest diversity of moss flora in Antarctica. Likewise, <em>T. fragilis</em> and <em>B. nivale</em> represent remarkable additions to the moss flora of the South Shetland Islands, which currently consists of 92 species and one variety, making this archipelago by far the richest bryofloristically amongst large geographic regions of the Antarctic. Comparison of recent (2018) and old (1985) photographs revealed a significant retreat of glacial cover and suggests that the collection site was likely opened for colonization only within the last several decades. The record of <em>T. fragilis</em> is biogeographically relevant, and constitutes an intermediate site between the species’ occurrences in the Antarctic Peninsula and southern South America. The present record of <em>B. nivale</em> is the fourth discovery of the species worldwide, which may be helpful for the future designation of the distribution of this extremely rare species.

scholarly journals Biology of generative reproduction of Colobanthus quitensis (Kunth) Bartl. from King George Island, South Shetland Islands

2011 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 139-155 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irena Giełwanowska ◽  
Anna Bochenek ◽  
Ewa Gojło ◽  
Ryszard Görecki ◽  
Wioleta Kellmann ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Embryo Sac ◽  
Pollen Grains ◽  
South Shetland Islands ◽  
Egg Cell ◽  
Strong Wind ◽  
King George Island ◽  
Natural Conditions ◽  
Shetland Islands ◽  
Colobanthus Quitensis ◽  
The Antarctic

Biology of generative reproduction of Colobanthus quitensis (Kunth) Bartl. from King George Island, South Shetland Islands Our macroscopic observations and microscopic studies conducted by means of a light microscope (LM) and transmission electron microscope (TEM) concerning the re-production biology of Colobanthus quitensis (Caryophyllaceae) growing in natural conditions in the Antarctic and in a greenhouse in Olsztyn (northern Poland) showed that this plant develops two types of bisexual flowers: opening, chasmogamous flowers and closed, cleistogamous ones. Cleistogamy was caused by a low temperature, high air humidity and strong wind. A small number of microspores differentiated in the microsporangia of C. quitensis, which is typical of cleistogamous species. Microsporocytes, and later microspores, formed very thick callose walls. More than twenty spheroidal, polypantoporate pollen grains differentiated in the microsporangium. They germinated on the surface of receptive cells on the dry stigma of the gynoecium or inside the microsporangium. A monosporic embryo sac of the Polygonum type differentiated in the crassinucellar ovule. During this differentiation the nucellus tissue formed and stored reserve materials. In the development of generative cells, a male germ unit (MGU) with differentiated sperm cells was observed. The smaller cell contained mainly mitochondria, and the bigger one plastids. In the process of fertilization in C. quitensis only one nucleus of the sperm cell, without cytoplasm fragments, entered the egg cell, and the proembryo developed according to the Caryophyllad type. Almost all C. quitensis ovules developed and formed perispermic seeds with a completely differentiated embryo both under natural conditions in the Antarctic and in a green-house in Olsztyn.

scholarly journals Southern elephant seal movements and Antarctic sea ice

2000 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Bornemann ◽  
M. Kreyscher ◽  
S. Ramdohr ◽  
T. Martin ◽  
A. Carlini ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sea Ice ◽  
Antarctic Peninsula ◽  
South Shetland Islands ◽  
Mirounga Leonina ◽  
King George Island ◽  
The South ◽  
Elephant Seals ◽  
Shetland Islands ◽  
Pack Ice ◽  
The Antarctic

Weaned pups and post-moult female elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) were fitted with satellite transmitters at King George Island (South Shetland Islands) between December 1996 and February 1997. Of the nine adult females tracked for more than two months, three stayed in a localized area between the South Shetland Islands and the South Orkney Islands. The other six females travelled south-west along the coast of the Antarctic Peninsula up to the Bellingshausen Sea. Two of them then moved north-east and hauled out on South Georgia in October. One female was last located north of the South Shetland Islands in March 1998. In total, eight females were again sighted on King George Island and six of the transmitters removed. The tracks of the weaners contrasted with those of the adults. In January, five juveniles left King George Island for the Pacific sector spending about four weeks in the open sea west of the De Gerlache Seamounts. Three of them returned to the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula in June, of which one was last located on the Patagonian Shelf in November 1997. The juveniles avoided sea ice while the adults did not. The latter displayed behavioural differences in using the pack ice habitat during winter. Some females adjusted their movement patterns to the pulsating sea ice fringe in distant foraging areas while others ranged in closed pack ice of up to 100%. The feeding grounds of adult female elephant seals are more closely associated with the pack ice zone than previously assumed. The significance of the midwater fish Pleuragramma antarcticum as a potential food resource is discussed.

scholarly journals First documented record of barn swallow (Hirundo rustica) in the Antarctic

2011 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 355-360 ◽  
Author(s):  
Małgorzata Korczak-Abshire ◽  
Alexander Lees ◽  
Agata Jojczyk
Keyword(s):  
Passerine Bird ◽  
Hirundo Rustica ◽  
South Shetland Islands ◽  
King George Island ◽  
The South ◽  
Barn Swallow ◽  
Shetland Islands ◽  
Antarctic Convergence ◽  
The World ◽  
The Antarctic

First documented record of barn swallow (Hirundo rustica) in the Antarctic Here we report a photo-documented record of a barn swallow (Hirundo rustica) from the South Shetland Islands. We also review previous records of passerine vagrants in the Antarctic (south of the Antarctic Convergence Zone). This barn swallow is the first recorded member of the Hirundinidae family on King George Island and is only the second passerine recorded in the South Shetland Islands. This sighting, along with previous records of austral negrito and austral trush represent the southernmost sightings of any passerine bird anywhere in the world.

scholarly journals Detecção de Mudanças Ambientais na Antártica através de Dados de Sensoriamento Remoto e Mapas Históricos

2001 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 337
Author(s):  
JORGE ARIGONY NETO ◽  
JEFERSON CARDIA SIMÕES ◽  
ULISSES FRANZ BREMER ◽  
FRANCISCO ELISEU AQUINO
Keyword(s):  
Ice Cover ◽  
South Shetland Islands ◽  
King George Island ◽  
Ice Shelves ◽  
Admiralty Bay ◽  
Shetland Islands ◽  
Climatic Variations ◽  
Glacier System ◽  
Ice Retreat ◽  
The Antarctic

Ice masses in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica, are relatively thin and near or at the melting pressure point. They are, therefore, very sensitive to climatic variations. This work discusses glaciers retreat observed since 1950s in the Antarctic Specially Managed Area (ASMA) of Admiralty Bay in King George Island. From 1956 to 1979 this area lost 4.3 km2 (2%) of its ice cover. Further 4.9 km2 disappeared (10% of the original ice cover, i.e. in 1956). The ice retreat magnitude in this period cannot be attributed to in-built variations of the glacier system. Further, it is associated to similar glaciers retractions and ice shelves collapses in the northern most part of the Antarctic Peninsula. Probably this general ice retreat results from or is enhanced by the atmospheric warming recorded for the region since 1940s.

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