Full Proposals for IPY 2007-2008 Activities

Proposed IPY Activity Details

1.0 PROPOSER INFORMATION

(Activity ID No: 251)

1.1 Title of Activity
Circumpolar monitoring of the biology of key-species in relation to environmental changes

1.2 Short Form Title of Proposed Activity
Circumpolar Population Monitoring

1.3 Activity Leader Details
Yvon Le Maho
Institut Pluridisciplinaire Hubert Curien
France

1.4 Lead International Organisation(s) (if applicable)
CAML

1.5 Other Countries involved in the activity
UK
NEW ZEALAND
USA
AUSTRALIA
JAPAN
ITALY
KOREA

1.6 Expression of Intent ID #'s brought together in this proposed activity
83, 417, 248

1.7 Location of Field Activities
Antarctic

1.8 Which IPY themes are addressed
1. Current state of the environment
2. Change in the polar regions
3. Polar-global linkages/tele-connections

1.9 What is the main IPY target addressed by this activity
1. Natural or social science

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2.0 SUMMARY OF THE ACTIVITY

Climate change is already dramatically affecting the biosphere, but its effects on biological communities are still poorly understood. Because of the sensitivity of sea ice extent to temperature fluctuation, and the sensitivity of high-latitude species to changes in ice extent, the Southern Ocean represents a natural laboratory in which to investigate the impacts of global and regional climate change and any consequent biotic modifications. In the Southern Ocean, individual species depending on their link to sea ice may be affected independently, or there may be changes due to complex, multispecies interactions, e.g. bottom-up cascades from plankton to krill, fish and top-predators; conversely, top-down cascades could result from alterations of predation pressure as changing sea ice affects the degree of access of top predators to their prey. In this context, it is now well documented that, among air-breathing top-predators, variations in penguin population can be used as an indicator of climatic changes. The census of penguin populations over several decades and all around the continent has indeed revealed general long-term trends, some of which appear to be contradictory depending on spatial scale. For example, the West Antarctic Peninsula show trends that differ from those observed in the Ross Sea and elsewhere. Furthermore, colonies at the regional scale, such as the South Orkney Islands, can also show contrasting population trajectories. It has been found that small colonies respond more dramatically to the altered environment than larger ones, a response affected by the proximity of neighbouring colonies and their respective size. In other words, some of the fundamental mechanisms driving the dynamics of penguin populations still remain largely unidentified. A long-term monitoring of individual birds using methods that minimize disturbance is therefore necessary to determine the life-history parameters that respond to climate change, such as survival, emigration, breeding performance and foraging success as well as metapopulation dynamics (clusters of colonies). It is also critical to ascertain that the differences within and between colonies are not due to an experimental bias. A co-ordinated effort, therefore, is required in the monitoring and analysis at different sites, both in following individuals over the complete breeding season and in tracking them at sea where they feed The main goal of this project is precisely to address these issues. This will be carried out in the context of other IPY projects that have related objectives and in the context of existing long-term monitoring programmes that are already well established. These include the Census of Antarctic Marine Life (CAML) IPY EoI 83, Integrated Analyses of Circumpolar Climate Interactions and Ecosystem Dynamics in the Southern Ocean (ICED) IPY 417, and the Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR). We propose:

1. To define and use a population monitoring protocol for land-based top-predators that allows us to obtain large, quantitative sample sizes of year-round biological information about their breeding performance and at-sea activity and distribution with minimum disturbance for the population studied. This challenging task is feasible because of the major advances in microelectronics that have occurred over recent years. Our project will combine state-of-art electronic identification of individuals with the most-advanced bio-logging approaches. To minimize disturbance, the identification of animals requires that individuals are tagged with miniature passive implanted transponder microchips that are detected by radio receiver antennae (Automatic Identification System, AIS). This will be complemented by the bio-logging approach, which is based on externally-attached, miniature data-recorders that monitor the location, time-budget and/or feeding activity of free ranging animals.
2. To co-ordinate and standardize the monitoring and analysis procedures used by different research groups so as to provide a circumpolar network of information on the status of penguin populations, an activity to further the goals of CCAMLR. This will include promoting the development of automatic systems to monitor penguin populations at sites not yet monitored and to provide assistance to research groups that do not yet have the expertise or resources in this domain.
3. To share information on the population dynamics of penguins in relation to environmental variability (especially sea-ice) with: a) lead IPY projects (e.g. CAML EoI 83 and ICED EoI 417); b) other research groups investigating biological variability at other levels in the food chain (e.g. fish IPY EoI 248); and with d) a wider audience through media links and through internet-related links, including e) graduate and undergraduate students whose majors are related to Antarctic topics (e.g. through courses and lectures given at the International Antarctic Institute: http://www.iai.utas.edu.au/).

2.1 What is the evidence of inter-disciplinarity in this activity?
While this project deals principally with penguin population surveys, it should be regarded as a part of the vaster survey program proposed in the EoI 83, CAML, in which all levels of the food chains are monitored. In the CAML approach, several biological disciplines are expected to fusion their knowledge, leading to a truly integrative vision of the Antarctic ecosystem. Moreover, the status of Antarctic penguin populations depends dramatically on the status of the sea ice and our approach will, therefore, require a close interaction with climatologists and oceanographers if we are to understand the physical processes that constrain the breeding and foraging activity of birds. The pluridisciplinarity of our project is well exemplified in the bio-logging approach, which interfaces several biological disciplines (ecology, physiology, ethology and biomechanics) and other non-biological disciplines (e.g. physical properties of the environment, oceanography,microelectronics, computer science and information-technology). It should be noted here that the project leader is a member of an inter-disciplinary institute (Institut Pluridisciplinaire Hubert Curien) inside his scientific organization (CNRS). This will ensure that the project will remain in interaction with partners from other scientific disciplines (e.g. to develop the technology required in the project).

2.2 What will be the significant advances/developments from this activity? What will be the major deliverables? What are the outputs for your peers?
The project will provide for the first time a complete, global and unified picture of the penguin population dynamics and of the status of the trophic chains all around the continent. There will be a substantial progress in the understanding of the processes that drive population trends and how climate change is affecting the dynamic of the penguin populations. We expect a substantial number of scientific documents to be produced (including reports of the population monitoring project as outlined in the present document). In this regard, several of these documents could address some of the goals of the CAML and the SCAR. The important number of countries already involved denotes an evident interest of the ecological community towards the type of approach presented here.

2.3 Outline the geographical location(s) for the proposed field work (approximate coordinates will be helpful if possible)

2.4 Define the approximate timeframe(s) for proposed field activities?

2.5 What major logistic support/facilities will be required for this project?

Further details – ON-LAND expenditures: most of the sites already have the AIS infrastructure installed and running (for several years in some instances). The acquisition of identification tags (to increase the sample of tagged animals every year) will represent the main cost at these locations. At sites without AIS, additional expenditures will be needed to cover the installation and maintenance of AIS. AT-SEA expenditures: A number of biologging devices (e.g. GPS and accelerometers from Little Leonardo, Japan; TDRs from CEFAS, UK and Geolocation devices from the British Antarctic Survey, UK; TDR-PTT combinations from Wildlife Computers, US) will be purchased every year. The costs of these loggers will either be shared among groups or each group will purchase its own pool of devices. Regular logistic support to get to the stations during the austral summers will be necessary. Some resources can usefully be shared with other IPY projects.

2.6 How will the required logistics be supplied? Have operators been approached?

2.7 If working in the Arctic regions, has there been contact with local indigenous groups or relevant authorities regarding access?

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3.0 STRUCTURE OF THE ACTIVITY

3.1 Origin of the activity
This is a pulse of activity during 2007-2009 within an existing programme

3.2 How will the activity be organised and managed? Describe the proposed management structure and means for coordinating across the cluster
Each participant will be in charge of running their own programs following the agenda developed in their institution. Technological development, sharing of data, students and researchers exchanges schemes and other joint issues will be discussed throughout the year and final decisions will be adopted at the occasion of meetings of the steering committee for the project (cf. below).

3.3 Will the activity leave a legacy of infrastructure and if so in what form?
The monitoring work will continue indefinitely beyond the IPY time frame. The objective is to obtain long-term data sets that are necessary to determine the impact of future climate changes on penguin populations. The project is expected to yield a substantial number of studies that can each deliver scientific information on various aspects of the biology of the species monitored.

3.4 Will the activity involve nations other than traditional polar nations? How will this be addressed?
Any new nation interested in starting a polar programs is welcome to join the consortium. The consortium will provide help and assistance to this nation for developing its own program to ensure a continuity in the protocol used to monitor the penguin populations around the continent.

3.5 Will this activity be linked with other IPY core activities? If yes please specify
As mentioned previously, the present project is integrated into larger ecosystem monitoring programs, mainly the CAML (EoI 83), which purpose is to provide a dynamic census of the living organisms in the Antarctic ecosystem.

3.6 How will the activity manage its data? Is there a viable plan and which data management organisations/structures will be involved?
A scientific steering committee (SSC) will meet at least once a year; this will initially be chaired by Dr. Y. Le Maho and will include D. Ainley, P. Trathan, C Southwell, Y. Ropert-Coudert, and A. Takahashi. Relevant experts in microelectronic technology will also be invited to attend. The SSC will be in charge of co-ordinating the international effort and insuring data delivery and education outreach. The meetings will be held in the institution of the chairperson, using the existing infra-structure. Eventually, these meetings could be included in the bi-annual meetings of the SCAR or CAML.

3.7 Data Policy Agreement
Will this activity sign up to the IPY draft Data Policy (see website)
Yes

3.8 How will the activity contribute to developing the next generation of polar scientists, logisticians, etc.?
The leading organization (the Departement d'Ecologie, Physiologie et Ethologie inside of the Institut Pluridisciplinaire Hubert Curien) runs an undergraduate course linked to the University Louis Pasteur of Strasbourg that has a large focus on polar issues and especially those outlined in the present document (Population monitoring and ecophysiology of marine animals). Several PhD students working on polar topics directly related to those presented here, are enrolled at the CEPE annually. In addition to these undergraduate and graduate courses, field courses and lectures on bio-logging and population monitoring (among others) given in the frame of the International Antarctic Institute (http://www.iai.utas.edu.au/) will provide a strong educational outreach for graduate and undergraduate students worldwide.

3.9 How will this activity address education, outreach and communication issues outlined in the Framework document?
An existing World Wide Web site concerned with the tracking of Antarctic penguins will be enhanced and connected to other www sites (including a diving animal database currently under development). The development of this will be governed by the SSC. These www sites will deliver “near real-time” information about the status of breeding colonies, breeding performance and foraging behaviour. Some colonies will also be equipped with web cams. Our partners (EoI 417; EoI 83; EoI 248) will provide additional information about the biology and status of other related species (especially penguin prey). Science exposure and enhanced public understanding of science will be delivered through media companies. For example, both NIPR and BAS regularly host media teams at their Antarctic research stations; these teams generally have a large appetite for any science relating to large air-breathing vertebrate predators, especially penguins.

3.10 What are the proposed sources of funding for this activity?
Mainly through grant applications to national agencies (Agence Nationale de la Recherche, France; NERC, UK; National Science Foundation, U.S.A.; etc.) but it is anticipated that it may also involve international funding agencies; in some cases support may come from private sources.

3.11 Additional Comments

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4.0 CONSORTIUM INFORMATION

4.1 Contact Details

Lead Contact
Dr Yvon Le Maho
Institut Pluridisciplinaire Hubert Curien
Departement d'Ecologie, Physiologie et Ethologie UMR7178-CNRS, 23, rue Becquerel Strasbourg
67087
FRANCE

Tel:          33 (0) 3 88 10 69 33
Mobile:   33 (0) 6 12 92 94 28
Fax:         33 (0) 3 88 10 69 44
Email:       yvon.lemaho@c-strasbourg.fr

Second Contact
Dr Yan Ropert-Coudert
National Institute of Polar Research
1-9-10 Kaga, Itabashi-Ku, Tokyo
173-8515
JAPAN

Tel:          81 3 3962 4530
Mobile:   N/A
Fax:         81 3 3962 5743
Email:      yaounde@nipr.ac.jp

4.2 Other significant consortium members and their affiliation