(Tables 1,2) Site characteristics and phenotypic attributes of King Penguins (Aptenodytes patagonicus) on Possession Island
Citation
Descamps S, Le Bohec C, Le Maho Y, Gendner J, Gauthier-Clerc M (2008). (Tables 1,2) Site characteristics and phenotypic attributes of King Penguins (Aptenodytes patagonicus) on Possession Island. PANGAEA - Publishing Network for Geoscientific and Environmental Data. Occurrence dataset https://doi.org/10.1594/pangaea.808873 accessed via GBIF.org on 2018-08-17.Description
In colonial species, it is often assumed that locations in the center of the colony are of highest quality and provide highest breeding success. We tested this prediction, known as the “central-periphery model,” in a King Penguin colony in the subantarctic Crozet Archipelago. Breeding activity and survival of 150 penguins, fitted with transponder tags, were monitored over an entire breeding season. Among these 150 birds, 50 bred on the slope at the upper periphery of the colony, where the rates of predation and parasitism by ticks were high. Fifty birds bred in the center of the colony, where rates of predation and tick parasitism were low, and 50 bred at the lower end of the colony, where the rate of tick parasitism was low but predation and flooding were important risks. We predicted that the center of the colony should provide the safest breeding place and consequently be characterized by the highest breeding success and be used by the highest-quality individuals. Yet we found that penguins breeding in the center of the colony had the same breeding success as those at both peripheral locations. In addition, penguins breeding on the upper slope had a higher survival rate than penguins breeding at the center or bottom of the slope and were likely of higher quality. Our study does not support the central-periphery model and emphasizes the complexity behind the relationships among breeding site, breeding success, and individual quality.Taxonomic Coverages
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Sébastien Descampsoriginator
Céline Le Bohec
originator
Yvon Le Maho
originator
Jean-Paul Gendner
originator
Michel Gauthier-Clerc
originator
metadata author
PANGAEA - Data Publisher for Earth & Environmental Science
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administrative point of contact
PANGAEA - Data Publisher for Earth & Environmental Science
email: info@pangaea.de
homepage: http://www.pangaea.de