Abstract: Difficulties quantifying in situ prey patch quality have limited our understanding of how marine predators respond to variation within and between patches, and throughout their foraging range. In the present study, animal-borne video, GPS, accelerometer and dive behaviour data loggers were used to investigate the fine-scale foraging behaviour of Macaroni penguins (Eudyptes chrysolophus) in response to prey type, patch density and temporal variation in diving behaviour. Individuals mainly dived during the day and utilised two strategies, targeting different prey types. Subantarctic krill (Euphausia vallentini) were consumed during deep dives, while small soft-bodied fish were captured on shallow dives or during the ascent phase of deep dives. Despite breeding in large colonies individuals seemed to be solitary foragers and did not engage with conspecifics in coordinated behaviour as seen in other group foraging penguin species. This potentially reflects the high abundance and low manoeuvrability of krill. Video data were used to validate prey capture signals in accelerometer data and a Support Vector Machine learning algorithm was developed to identify prey captures that occurred throughout the entire foraging trip. Prey capture rates indicated that Macaroni penguins continued to forage beyond the optimal give up time. However, bout-scale analysis revealed individuals terminated diving behaviour for reasons other than patch quality. These findings indicate that individuals make complex foraging decisions in relation to their proximate environment over multiple spatio-temporal scales.

Abstract: The atmospheric cosmic-ray environment is composed of secondary particles produced when primary cosmic rays interact with the nucleus of atmospheric atoms. Modeling of atmospheric radiations is essential for investigating their impacts on human activities such as radiation risks in aviation or scientific fields such as cosmogenic dating. The nuclear transport codes are a common and accurate way to model the cosmic ray interaction in the atmosphere with minimal approximations. However, tracking all produced secondary particles in each event in the whole depth of the atmosphere and sampling many events to obtain the statistically meaningful results would be a computational challenge and disadvantageous from the point of view of time consumption. This paper presents a computational platform names ATMOS CORE based on pre-calculated databases coupled to physical models and computational methods. The fields of application concern the atmospheric cosmic-rays characterization as well as their effects on electronics systems, on the ambient dose for aircrews or the cosmogenic nuclide production for dating activities. Some comparisons between simulations and measurements are also presented and discussed.

Abstract: Sexual competition is increasingly recognized as an important selective pressure driving species distributions. However, few studies have investigated the relative importance of interpopulation versus intrapopulation competition in relation to habitat availability and selection. To explain spatial segregation between sexes that often occurs in non-territorial and central place foragers, such as seabirds, two hypotheses are commonly used. The ‘competitive exclusion’ hypothesis states that dominant individuals should exclude subordinate individuals through direct competition, whereas the ‘niche divergence’ hypothesis states that segregation occurs due to past competition and habitat specialization. We tested these hypotheses in two populations of an extreme wide-ranging and sexually dimorphic seabird, investigating the relative role of intrapopulation and interpopulation competition in influencing sex-specific distribution and habitat preferences. Using GPS loggers, we tracked 192 wandering albatrosses Diomedea exulans during four consecutive years (2016–2019), from two neighbouring populations in the Southern Ocean (Prince Edward and Crozet archipelagos). We simulated pseudo-tracks to create a null spatial distribution and used Kernel Density Estimates (KDE) and Resource Selection Functions (RSF) to distinguish the relative importance of within- versus between-population competition. Kernel Density Estimates showed that only intrapopulation sexual segregation was significant for each monitoring year, and that tracks between the two colonies resulted in greater overlap than expected from the null distribution, especially for the females. RSF confirmed these results and highlighted key at-sea foraging areas, even if the estimated of at-sea densities were extremely low. These differences in selected areas between sites and sexes were, however, associated with high interannual variability in habitat preferences, with no clear specific preferences per site and sex. Our results suggest that even with low at-sea population densities, historic intrapopulation competition in wide-ranging seabirds may have led to sexual dimorphism and niche specialization, favouring the ‘niche divergence’ hypothesis. In this study, we provide a protocol to study competition within as well as between populations of central place foragers. This is relevant for understanding their distribution patterns and population regulation, which could potentially improve management of threatened populations.

Abstract: Interspecific feeding refers to behavior where an adult of one species feeds the young of another species, with the exclusion of brood parasitism. In birds, most of observed cases concern passerines and this behavior has so far never been described among seabirds. We report on interspecific feeding provided by an adult gentoo penguin Pygoscelis papua to an Adélie penguin P. adeliae chick on the Antarctic Peninsula.

Abstract: The Kerguelen Islands (49°26′S, 69°50′E) represent a unique environment due to their geographical isolation, which protects them from anthropogenic pollution. The ability of the endemic mussel, part of the Mytilus complex, to cope with moderate heat stress was explored using omic tools. Transcripts involved in six major metabolic functions were selected and the qRT-PCR data indicated mainly changes in aerobic and anaerobic energy metabolism and stress response. Proteomic comparisons revealed a typical stress response pattern with cytoskeleton modifications and elements suggesting increased energy metabolism. Results also suggest conservation of protein homeostasis by the long-lasting presence of HSP while a general decrease in transcription is observed. The overall findings are consistent with an adaptive response to moderate stresses in mussels in good physiological condition, i.e. living in a low-impact site, and with the literature concerning this model species. Therefore, local blue mussels could be advantageously integrated into biomonitoring strategies, especially in the context of Global Change.