Expressions of Intent for International Polar Year 2007-2008 Activities

Expression of Interest Details

PROPOSAL INFORMATION

Food in the freezer. Foraging strategies of flying seabirds in a frozen environment  (Food in the freezer)

Outline
Finding food is crucial for top-predators in the Antarctic ecosystem during extreme winter conditions. Especially flying seabirds, depending on food sources in open water, are affected by sea-ice conditions, which fluctuate from year to year, and might be gradually altered by global climate change. The most southerly top-predators are seabirds (petrels, skuas), breeding on inland ice-free areas of the Antarctic continent. Much knowledge is currently available on breeding biology of seabirds when they are on land. Only in the last decades ornithologists are able to follow birds when they are out at sea and linking foraging ecology with their breeding strategies.Foraging ecology of Antarctic flying seabirds is relatively little studied and clearly connected to sea-ice patterns, seawater temperatures, and primary and secondary production. Remote sensing studies (by satellite images) as well oceanographic sampling programmes will supplement to the understanding of seabirds’ search strategies for food, and thus, of their pelagic dispersal patterns. Also, studies on distribution of prey (fish, krill) in pack ice in both winter and summer should be stimulated, and integrated with on-going research on sea mammals and penguins in Antarctica.European institutes (British Antarctic Survey; Institut für Meereskunde, Germany; CEBC-CNRS, France) have been heavily involved in developing new, light-weight animal tracking technologies, which facilitates the monitoring of medium-sized flying birds. Further developing of light-level geolocators is proposed, because of low costs, low weight, year-round and multi-season datalogging capacity. Dataloggers can be used because high fidelity to breeding sites of these birds. However, possibilities of miniaturising accurate GPS-tracking loggers, as well as behaviour-recording devices, such as activity-, speed-, temperature-, wet/dry-recording sensors, should be further explored. At first, focus will be on Antarctic Petrels Thalassoica antarctica, Snow Petrels Pagodroma nivea, as well as on southerly breeding South Polar Skuas Catharacta maccormicki. These species are probably most bounded by sea-ice, and have rather different foraging strategies and wing morphology. Later, other (petrel) species could be considered that forage more northerly, e.g. to establish the ecological significance of the edge of the seasonal sea-ice zone.Foraging and dispersal studies of seabirds would get more importance when combined with long-term monitoring studies on marked individuals in established study areas. This would enable us to study how winter conditions, or changing climate conditions, would effect behavioural decisions on reproduction and survival of long-lived species.

What significant advance(s) in relation to the IPY themes and targets can be anticipated from this project?
Distribution and changes in the extent of sea-ice cover has received considerable interest recently, also because of a possible link with global warming and anthropogenic influences. This project investigates the role of sea-ice cover for the Antarctic ecosystem, in particular for top predators. Sea-ice cover extent could affect distribution and foraging efforts in seabird populations, which can be shown in variations in the reproductive output of these populations. Expected results of this show the general public, in a visually clear way (satellite tracks / recorded geolocation points, combined with sea-ice cover / temperature data) the importance of sea ice for Antarctic wildlife.

What international collaboration is involved in this project?
Australian Antarctic Division (ANARE) and possibly Norwegian Polar Institute (NARE) for logistics and fieldwork. SEAMAP-OBIS (Duke University), Antarctic Data Centre (AAD), NOAA (USA) and other institutes for of sea-ice, seawater temperatures, satellite images of Southern Ocean and data management.

FIELD ACTIVITY DETAILS

Geographical location(s) for the proposed field activities:
Intended is using existing locations where fieldwork has been taken place within Australian Antarctic Program (Windmill Islands, Rauer Islands) and Norwegian Polar Program for a Continental inland study sites (Svarthamaren, Dronning Maud Land). Other locations will be considered.

Approximate timeframe(s) for proposed field activities:
Arctic: n/a
Antarctic: Oct/06 – Mar/07      Oct/07 – Mar/08      Oct/08 – Mar/09

Significant facilities will be required for this project:
Project is supposed to be implemented within ongoing monitoring or ecological research of national polar programs, often without much extra efforts for researchers present at these locations (attaching geolocators and satellite transmitters). If needed extra personnel will be recruited to help with field work.

Will the project leave a legacy of infrastructure?
No. This project will enhance international cooperation and scientific communication, without increasing the need for new infrastructure and other negative effects on the environmental fragile ecosystem.

How is it envisaged that the required logistic support will be secured?

Project consists of various projects at different locations, performed by researchers within existing current research programs on these locations, thus little logistic problem are expected.

Has the project been "endorsed" at a national or international level?
Not yet, but current proposal is submitted at Netherlands Polar Program (NPP) beginning January 2005.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND STRUCTURE

Is the project a short-term expansion (over the IPY 2007-2008 timeframe) of an existing plan, programme or initiative or is it a new autonomous proposal?
yes

This is a new project, but has been also submitted at European Science Foundation (ESF) program Life in Extreme Environments. International contacts exist with various members in the SCAR Group of Experts on Birds, where PI has been observer during last two meetings and with other researchers working on seabirds in Antarctica.

How will the project be organised and managed?
Fieldwork is supposed to be implemented within national polar programs and institutes, such as Australian Antarctic Division, Norwegian Polar Institute, BAS and possibly other institutes. Coordination of research tasks, collating data from the various field locations, will be done from The Netherlands. Production of GIS maps and collection of abiotic parameters will be done by foreign research bodies.Strength of this project that current ecological and monitoring projects will benefit from the Food in the Freezer initiative, because they are free to use the individual foraging and dispersal data for their own local studies. Food in the Freezer will only publish data on the population level

What are the initial plans of the project for addressing the education, outreach and communication issues outlined in the Framework document?
Interactive websites will be constructed and maps provided of birds foraging in pack ice zone of Southern Ocean. Because of the visually attractive output it is expected that general public and media will be interested in this research project.

What are the initial plans of the project to address data management issues (as outlined in the Framework document?
It is intended to work closely together with other data management bodies such as SEAMAP-OBIS at the Duke University and Antarctic Data Centre at the Australian Antarctic Division to produce the GIS maps.

How is it proposed to fund the project?
Relatively little costs are expected, because most activities can be carried out within current ongoing programmes. Funding for obtaining satellite trackers (costs of using satellites) and geo-locators still has to be established.

Is there additional information you wish to provide?
Officially contacts are not yet established, but it is envisaged to work closely together with Alterra-Texel (Van Franeker), University of Groningen (Dept Marine Biology / Animal Ecology), British Antarctic Survey (Afanasyev for geolocators, contact since Bio-logging Conference in Tokyo 2003), Australian Antarctic Division / SCAR Group of Experts on Birds (Woehler, Chairman SCAR-GEB).Principal Investigator is a young scientist planning to finish his PhD degree on Antarctic ecology in early 2005.

PROPOSER DETAILS

Ms  Jeroen Creuwels
University of Groningen, Dept Marine Biology
PO Box 167, 9750 AA Haren
9750 AA Haren
Netherlands

Tel: +31.50.3632226
Mobile: +31.06.48236556
Fax: +31.50.3632259
Email:

Other project members and their affiliation