Abstract: The rate of biological invasions is growing unprecedentedly, threatening ecological and socioeconomic systems worldwide. Quantitative understandings of invasion temporal trajectories are essential to discern current and future economic impacts of invaders, and then to inform future management strategies. Here, we examine the temporal trends of cumulative invasion costs by developing and testing a novel mathematical model with a population dynamical approach based on logistic growth. This model characterises temporal cost developments into four curve types (I–IV), each with distinct mathematical and qualitative properties, allowing for the parameterization of maximum cumulative costs, carrying capacities and growth rates. We test our model using damage cost data for eight genera (Rattus, Aedes, Canis, Oryctolagus, Sturnus, Ceratitis, Sus and Lymantria) extracted from the InvaCost database—which is the most up-to-date and comprehensive global compilation of economic cost estimates associated with invasive alien species. We find fundamental differences in the temporal dynamics of damage costs among genera, indicating they depend on invasion duration, species ecology and impacted sectors of economic activity. The fitted cost curves indicate a lack of broadscale support for saturation between invader density and impact, including for Canis, Oryctolagus and Lymantria, whereby costs continue to increase with no sign of saturation. For other taxa, predicted saturations may arise from data availability issues resulting from an underreporting of costs in many invaded regions. Overall, this population dynamical approach can produce cost trajectories for additional existing and emerging species, and can estimate the ecological parameters governing the linkage between population dynamics and cost dynamics.

Abstract: We use the am, an, as and the aσ geomagnetic indices to the explore a previously overlooked factor in magnetospheric electrodynamics, namely the inductive effect of diurnal motions of the Earth’s magnetic poles toward and away from the Sun caused by Earth’s rotation. Because the offset of the (eccentric dipole) geomagnetic pole from the rotational axis is roughly twice as large in the southern hemisphere compared to the northern, the effects there are predicted to be roughly twice the amplitude of those in the northern hemisphere. Hemispheric differences have previously been discussed in terms of polar ionospheric conductivities generated by solar photoionization, effects which we allow for by looking at the dipole tilt effect on the time-of-year variations of the indices. The electric field induced in a geocentric frame is shown to also be a significant factor and gives a modulation of the voltage applied by the solar wind flow in the southern hemisphere that is typically a ±30% diurnal modulation for disturbed intervals rising to ±76% in quiet times. For the northern hemisphere these are 15% and 38% modulations. Motion away from/towards the Sun reduces/enhances the directly-driven ionospheric voltages and reduces/enhances the magnetic energy stored in the tail and we estimate that approximately 10% of the effect appears in directly driven ionospheric voltages and 90% in changes of the rate of energy storage or release in the near-Earth tail. The hemispheric asymmetry in the geomagnetic pole offsets from the rotational axis is shown to be the dominant factor in driving Universal Time (UT) variations and hemispheric differences in geomagnetic activity. Combined with the effect of solar wind dynamic pressure and dipole tilt on the pressure balance in the near-Earth tail, the effect provides an excellent explanation of how the observed Russell-McPherron pattern with time-of-year F and UT in the driving power input into the magnetosphere is converted into the equinoctial F-UT pattern in average geomagnetic activity (after correction is made for dipole tilt effects on ionospheric conductivity), added to a pronounced UT variation with minimum at 02–10 UT. In addition, we show that the predicted and observed UT variations in average geomagnetic activity has implications for the occurrence of the largest events that also show the nett UT variation.

Abstract: Group-living is associated with both fitness benefits and costs for animals. In seabird colonies, spatial heterogeneity in social density and other environmental parameters may affect the quality of breeding territories. For instance, in king penguins, increased conspecific density has been correlated with increased stress hormone levels and increased energy expenditure in individual birds, suggesting a cost of colonial breeding. We unravelled the influences of early (genetic and early maternal effects) and rearing environments on chick growth trajectories, stress physiology and survival. Our results suggest that the rearing social environment (rather than biological background) can influence chicks’ phenotype, growth and survival. Especially, chicks reared in high density areas of the colony showed increased weight gain and survival probabilities. These results suggest either a difference in terms of parental quality between individual breeding at high and low social densities or a difference in chick’s competitiveness due to their early life social environment.

Abstract: Penguins are sea...birds. These highly evolved marine predators thrive in the oceanic habitat. Yet, they are conflicted – confronted to the duality of a life spent partly at sea, partly on-land. This life style has them subject to a number of very different ecological pressures. The ECONERGY polar project (IPEV #119) seeks to understand how king penguin cope with the constraints they face while living on-land, and the underlying physiological adaptations that allow them to do so. This includes studies dealing with fasting, parasites, predators, aggressive neighbors, climate and human disturbance. I will present some of the advances our project has made over the past decades, and where we will proceed in the years to come with a new project. We aim to understand bird stress from an integrative perspective, building a long-term observatory of penguin physiological responses to a changing world, and determining how breeding performances on land and foraging performances at sea are related.

Abstract: Animals from polar regions have evolved highly specialized adaptations to cope with cold climates, which put them at risk regarding the current rapid climate change. This is especially true for penguins who live most of the year in cold water, but breed on land in the spring/summer. Penguins are thereby likely to be threatened by periods of unusually warm temperatures on land. While heat stress is increasingly studied in warm regions, few studies have investigated whether heat stress could occur in polar regions, and to what extent it could affect individual health and reproduction. My aim is to fill this knowledge gap by leading a collaborative research project taking an integrative approach, from animal behavior to the sub-cellular level. This project aims at helping to better predict how penguin populations will respond to future climate change, and raise awareness of scientists, stakeholders and the general public towards an under-appreciated risk of climate change in polar regions.