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Late Holocene Adélie penguin population dynamics at Zolotov Island, Vestfold Hills, Antarctica

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Abstract

We inferred late Holocene Adélie penguin occupation history and population dynamics on Zolotov Island, Vestfold Hills, Antarctica, using geochemical data from a dated ornithogenic sediment core (ZOL4). Radiocarbon dates on fossil penguin bones in the core indicate that Adélie penguins occupied the island as early as 1,800 years before present (yr BP), following the retreat of the Sørsdal glacier. This occupation began ~1,200 years later than that observed at Ardley Island and King George Island, in the South Shetland Islands. Phosphorus was identified as the most indicative bio-element for penguin guano in core ZOL4, and was used to infer past penguin population dynamics. Around 1,800 years ago, the Adélie penguin populations at both Zolotov Island and Ardley Island increased rapidly and reached their highest levels ~1,000 yr BP. For the past ~900 years, the penguin populations at Zolotov Island have shown a general rising trend, with fluctuations, while those at Ardley Island have shown a moderate decreasing trend. The Adélie penguin populations at both Ardley Island and Zolotov Island showed a clear decline ~300 years ago, which we interpret as a response to the Little Ice Age, or a neoglacial cooling event.

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Acknowledgments

This study was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 40730107), the National Science and Technology Supporting Program (2006BAB18B07), the Major State Basic Research and Development Program of China (973 program, No. 2010CB428902) and the Australian Antarctic Division Science Project (AAD2873). We thank the Chinese Arctic and Antarctic Administration, Polar Research Institute of China, Australian Antarctic Division for logistical support in field, Dr. Renbin Zhu for collection of samples and Dr. William Cooper for assistance with radiocarbon dating. We especially thank the reviewers for their critical comments and Dr. Dominic Hodgson and Dr. Mark Brenner for their help in improving this manuscript.

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  1. Institute of Polar Environment, University of Science and Technology of China, 230026, Hefei, China

    Tao Huang, Liguang Sun, Yuhong Wang & Deming Kong

  2. National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA

    Yuhong Wang

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  1. Tao Huang
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Correspondence to Liguang Sun.

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Huang, T., Sun, L., Wang, Y. et al. Late Holocene Adélie penguin population dynamics at Zolotov Island, Vestfold Hills, Antarctica. J Paleolimnol 45, 273–285 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10933-011-9497-x

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