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Paige J. Maroni, Bill J. Baker, Amy L. Moran, H. Arthur Woods, Conxita Avila, Glenn J. Johnstone, Jonathan S. Stark, Kevin M. Kocot, Susanne Lockhart, Thomas Saucède, Greg W. Rouse, Nerida G. Wilson, Paige J. Maroni, Bill J. Baker, Amy L. Moran, H. Arthur Woods, Conxita Avila, Glenn J. Johnstone, Jonathan S. Stark, Kevin M. Kocot, Susanne Lockhart, Thomas Saucède, Greg W. Rouse, Nerida G. Wilson. (2022). One Antarctic slug to confuse them all: the underestimated diversity of Doris kerguelenensis (Vol. 36).
Abstract: The Antarctic marine environment, although rich in life, is predicted to experience rapid and significant effects from climate change. Despite a revolution in the approaches used to document biodiversity, less than one percent of Antarctic marine invertebrates are represented by DNA barcodes and we are at risk of losing biodiversity before discovery. The ease of sequencing mitochondrial DNA barcodes has promoted this relatively ‘universal’ species identification system across most metazoan phyla and barcode datasets are currently readily used for exploring questions of species-level taxonomy. Here we present the most well-sampled phylogeny of the direct-developing, Southern Ocean nudibranch mollusc, Doris kerguelenensis to date. This study sampled over 1000 new Doris kerguelenensis specimens spanning the Southern Ocean and sequenced the mitochondrial COI gene. Results of a maximum likelihood phylogeny and multiple subsequent species delimitation analyses identified 27 new species in this complex (now 59 in total). Using rarefaction techniques, we infer more species are yet to be discovered. Some species were only collected from southern South America or the sub-Antarctic islands, while at least four species were found spanning the Polar Front. This is contrary to dispersal predictions for species without a larval stage such as Doris kerguelenensis. Our work demonstrates the value of increasing geographic scope in sampling and highlights what could be lost given the current global biodiversity crisis.
Programme: 1044
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Florent Domine, Kévin Fourteau, Ghislain Picard, Georg Lackner, Denis Sarrazin, Mathilde Poirier. (2022). Permafrost cooled in winter by thermal bridging through snow-covered shrub branches (Vol. 15).
Abstract: Considerable expansion of shrubs across the Arctic tundra has been observed in recent decades. These shrubs are thought to have a warming effect on permafrost by increasing snowpack thermal insulation, thereby limiting winter cooling and accelerating thaw. Here, we use ground temperature observations and heat transfer simulations to show that low shrubs can actually cool the ground in winter by providing a thermal bridge through the snowpack. Observations from unmanipulated herb tundra and shrub tundra sites on Bylot Island in the Canadian high Arctic reveal a 1.21 °C cooling effect between November and February. This is despite a snowpack that is twice as insulating in shrubs. The thermal bridging effect is reversed in spring when shrub branches absorb solar radiation and transfer heat to the ground. The overall thermal effect is likely to depend on snow and shrub characteristics and terrain aspect. The inclusion of these thermal bridging processes into climate models may have an important impact on projected greenhouse gas emissions by permafrost.
Keywords: Climate change Climate sciences Climate-change impacts Cryospheric science
Programme: 1042
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Gautier Davesne, Daniel Fortier, Florent Domine. (2022). Properties and stratigraphy of polar ice patches in the Canadian High Arctic reveal their current resilience to warm summers (Vol. 8).
Abstract: Ice patches are ubiquitous in polar regions and are a key element for landscape evolution. We present new insights into polar desert ice patch formation based on snow and ice properties at Ward Hunt Island (Canadian High Arctic, 83°N). Our results demonstrate that ice patches are composed of two distinct units. The upper unit is characterized by very fine granular and bubbly ice with a clear oblique layering. By contrast, the lower unit is strikingly different with coarse crystals, lower porosity, and a high frequency of fractures. For both units, superimposed ice formation at the base of the deep snowpack stands out as the primary ice aggradation process. The distinct properties of the lower unit likely result from a long period of kinetic ice crystal growth indicating a minimum age of several hundred years. A radiocarbon date of 3 487 ± 20 cal BP suggests that ice patches could potentially date back to the late Holocene. This old ice was recently truncated during warmer summers between 2008 and 2012, but the ice patch quickly recovered its volume during cooler summers. The old age of the ice patches and their rapid regeneration after melt events suggest their resilience to current warmer summers.
Programme: 1042
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Alice Carravieri, Orsolya Vincze, Paco Bustamante, Joshua T. Ackerman, Evan M. Adams, Frédéric Angelier, Olivier Chastel, Yves Cherel, Olivier Gilg, Elena Golubova, Alexander Kitaysky, Katelyn Luff, Chad L. Seewagen, Hallvard Strøm, Alexis P. Will, Glenn Yannic, Mathieu Giraudeau, Jérôme Fort. (2022). Quantitative meta-analysis reveals no association between mercury contamination and body condition in birds (Vol. 97). Bachelor's thesis, , .
Abstract: Mercury contamination is a major threat to the global environment, and is still increasing in some regions despite international regulations. The methylated form of mercury is hazardous to biota, yet its sublethal effects are difficult to detect in wildlife. Body condition can vary in response to stressors, but previous studies have shown mixed effects of mercury on body condition in wildlife. Using birds as study organisms, we provide the first quantitative synthesis of the effect of mercury on body condition in animals. In addition, we explored the influence of intrinsic, extrinsic and methodological factors potentially explaining cross-study heterogeneity in results. We considered experimental and correlative studies carried out in adult birds and chicks, and mercury exposure inferred from blood and feathers. Most experimental investigations (90%) showed a significant relationship between mercury concentrations and body condition. Experimental exposure to mercury disrupted nutrient (fat) metabolism, metabolic rates, and food intake, resulting in either positive or negative associations with body condition. Correlative studies also showed either positive or negative associations, of which only 14% were statistically significant. Therefore, the overall effect of mercury concentrations on body condition was null in both experimental (estimate ± SE = 0.262 ± 0.309, 20 effect sizes, five species) and correlative studies (−0.011 ± 0.020, 315 effect sizes, 145 species). The single and interactive effects of age class and tissue type were accounted for in meta-analytic models of the correlative data set, since chicks and adults, as well as blood and feathers, are known to behave differently in terms of mercury accumulation and health effects. Of the 15 moderators tested, only wintering status explained cross-study heterogeneity in the correlative data set: free-ranging wintering birds were more likely to show a negative association between mercury and body condition. However, wintering effect sizes were limited to passerines, further studies should thus confirm this trend in other taxa. Collectively, our results suggest that (i) effects of mercury on body condition are weak and mostly detectable under controlled conditions, and (ii) body condition indices are unreliable indicators of mercury sublethal effects in the wild. Food availability, feeding rates and other sources of variation that are challenging to quantify likely confound the association between mercury and body condition in natura. Future studies could explore the metabolic effects of mercury further using designs that allow for the estimation and/or manipulation of food intake in both wild and captive birds, especially in under-represented life-history stages such as migration and overwintering.
Keywords: blood body mass energetics fat feather feeding habitat metabolism species
Programme: 109,330,388,1036,1210
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Anthony Sturbois, Julien Cucherousset, Miquel De Cáceres, Nicolas Desroy, Pascal Riera, Alexandre Carpentier, Nolwenn Quillien, Jacques Grall, Boris Espinasse, Yves Cherel, Gauthier Schaal. (2022). Stable Isotope Trajectory Analysis (SITA): A new approach to quantify and visualize dynamics in stable isotope studies (Vol. 92).
Abstract: Ecologists working with stable isotopes have to deal with complex datasets including temporal and spatial replication, which makes the analysis and the representation of patterns of change challenging, especially at high resolution. Due to the lack of a commonly accepted conceptual framework in stable isotope ecology, the analysis and the graphical representation of stable isotope spatial and temporal dynamics of stable isotope value at the organism or community scale remained in the past often descriptive and qualitative, impeding the quantitative detection of relevant functional patterns. The recent community trajectory analysis (CTA) framework provides more explicit perspectives for the analysis and the visualization of ecological trajectories. Building on CTA, we developed the Stable Isotope Trajectory Analysis (SITA) framework, to analyze the geometric properties of stable isotope trajectories on n-dimensional (n ≥ 2) spaces of analysis defined analogously to the traditional multivariate spaces (Ω) used in community ecology. This approach provides new perspectives into the quantitative analysis of spatio-temporal trajectories in stable isotope spaces (Ωδ) and derived structural and functional dynamics (Ωγ space). SITA allows the calculation of a set of trajectory metrics, based on either trajectory distances or directions, and new graphical representation solutions, both easily performable in an R environment. Here, we illustrate the use of our approach by reanalyzing previously published datasets from marine, terrestrial, and freshwater ecosystems. We highlight the insights provided by this new analytic framework at the individual, population, community, and ecosystems levels, and discuss applications, limitations, and development potential.
Keywords: changes composition dynamics food web functioning spatial stable isotope structure temporal trajectories
Programme: 109
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Tracey L. Hammer, Pierre Bize, Claire Saraux, Benoit Gineste, Jean-Patrice Robin, René Groscolas, Vincent A. Viblanc. (2022). Repeatability of alert and flight initiation distances in king penguins: Effects of colony, approach speed, and weather (Vol. 128).
Abstract: Alert distance (AD) and flight initiation distance (FID) are popular measures used to explore the reaction of prey to approaching predators, and thus the economics underlying optimal escape strategies. AD likely mirrors the effort invested into vigilance, while FID provides an estimate of the perceived risk of an approaching threat. Although individual variation in AD and FID is influenced by environmental factors such as variation in predation pressure and human disturbance, the repeatabilities of these traits (especially AD), and therefore their designation as personality traits, remain under-investigated. Here, we studied the repeatability of AD, FID, and the decision to flee in a flightless, ground-breeding seabird, the king penguin (Aptenodytes patagonicus). A single experimenter approached three times over three consecutive days 47 incubating king penguins from two different colonies with varying human disturbance levels. We explored the effects of weather, time of day, and approach speed of the experimenter on these behaviors. Weather had an effect on all three behaviors. In warm, sunny weather AD increased. In rainy, windy weather birds were more likely to flee, but waited longer before initiating flight. Faster approach speeds between AD and FID increased FID. Weather conditions and speed of approach affected repeatability estimates, highlighting the need to consider external sources of variation when refining such estimates. FID and the decision to flee were significantly and moderately repeatable (r = 0.26 and 0.57, respectively), while AD was not. There was no evidence of behavioral habituation or sensitization in either colony.
Keywords: Aptenodytes patagonicus human disturbance optimal escape decisions personality predation risk
Programme: 119
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Emeline Charbonnel, Claire Daguin-Thiébaut, Lucille Caradec, Eléonore Moittié, Olivier Gilg, Maria V. Gavrilo, Hallvard Strøm, Mark L. Mallory, R. I. Guy Morrison, H. Grant Gilchrist, Raphael Leblois, Camille Roux, Jonathan M. Yearsley, Glenn Yannic, Thomas Broquet. (2022). Searching for genetic evidence of demographic decline in an arctic seabird: beware of overlapping generations (Vol. 128).
Abstract: Genetic data are useful for detecting sudden population declines in species that are difficult to study in the field. Yet this indirect approach has its own drawbacks, including population structure, mutation patterns, and generation overlap. The ivory gull (Pagophila eburnea), a long-lived Arctic seabird, is currently suffering from rapid alteration of its primary habitat (i.e., sea ice), and dramatic climatic events affecting reproduction and recruitment. However, ivory gulls live in remote areas, and it is difficult to assess the population trend of the species across its distribution. Here we present complementary microsatellite- and SNP-based genetic analyses to test a recent bottleneck genetic signal in ivory gulls over a large portion of their distribution. With attention to the potential effects of population structure, mutation patterns, and sample size, we found no significant signatures of population decline worldwide. At a finer scale, we found a significant bottleneck signal at one location in Canada. These results were compared with predictions from simulations showing how generation time and generation overlap can delay and reduce the bottleneck microsatellite heterozygosity excess signal. The consistency of the results obtained with independent methods strongly indicates that the species shows no genetic evidence of an overall decline in population size. However, drawing conclusions related to the species’ population trends will require a better understanding of the effect of age structure in long-lived species. In addition, estimates of the effective global population size of ivory gulls were surprisingly low (~1000 ind.), suggesting that the evolutionary potential of the species is not assured.
Keywords: Conservation biology Population genetics
Programme: 1210
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Hassen Allegue, Christophe Guinet, Samantha C. Patrick, Mark A. Hindell, Clive R. McMahon, Denis Réale. (2022). Sex, body size, and boldness shape the seasonal foraging habitat selection in southern elephant seals (Vol. 12). Bachelor's thesis, , .
Abstract: Selecting foraging habitat is a fundamental behavior in the life of organisms as it directly links resource acquisition to fitness. Differences in habitat selection among individuals may arise from several intrinsic and extrinsic factors, and yet, their interaction has been given little attention in the study of wild populations. We combine sex, body size, and boldness to explain individual differences in the seasonal foraging habitat selection of southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) from the Kerguelen Archipelago. We hypothesize that habitat selection is linked to the trade-off between resource acquisition and risk, and that individuals differ in their position along this trade-off because of differences in reproductive strategies, life stages, and metabolic requirements. Before the post-molt foraging trip, we used a novel object approach test to quantify the boldness of 28 subadult and adult females and 42 subadult males and equipped them with data loggers to track their movements at sea. Subadult males selected neritic and oceanic habitats, whereas females mostly selected less productive oceanic habitats. Both sexes showed a seasonal shift from Antarctic habitats in the south in the summer to the free of ice subantarctic and subtropical habitats in the north in the winter. Males avoided oceanic habitats and selected more productive neritic and Antarctic habitats with body size mostly in the winter. Bolder males selected northern warmer waters in winter, while shyer ones selected the Kerguelen plateau and southern colder oceanic waters. Bolder females selected the Kerguelen plateau in the summer when prey profitability is assumed to be the highest. This study not only provides new insights into the spatiotemporal foraging ecology of elephant seals in relation to personality but also emphasizes the relevance of combining several intrinsic and extrinsic factors in understanding among-individual variation in space use essential in wildlife management and conservation.
Keywords: benefit–cost trade-off biologging habitat selection Mirounga leonina personality
Programme: 109,1201
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Niels Martin Schmidt, Tomas Roslin, Lars Holst Hansen, Olivier Gilg, Johannes Lang, Benoit Sittler, Jannik Hansen, Loïc Bollache, Eero Vesterinen. (2022). Spatio-temporal patterns in arctic fox (Vulpes alopex) diets revealed by molecular analysis of scats from Northeast Greenland (Vol. 32).
Abstract: The arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus) is endemic to the Arctic where it holds a central position in the trophic interactions. The diet of the species has previously been described as being highly flexible, but whether this flexibility is a constant trait through time, or merely reflects fast temporal changes in abundance among prey taxa, has so far been poorly resolved. Using molecular analyses of arctic fox scats from Northeast Greenland, we first examined the temporal dynamics of arctic fox diets during the short snow-free season, and then examined whether local food availability at different sites affected arctic fox dependence on lemmings. Arctic fox diets included most terrestrial vertebrate species found in the region, and exhibited substantial temporal changes, generally reflecting the dynamic changes in prey availability from late winter through autumn. This dietary flexibility was also reflected geographically, with arctic foxes consuming a variety of local prey (mainly waterfowl and lemmings) in summer. Moreover, the dietary response of arctic foxes to changes in lemming abundance depended on access to non-lemming prey. Based on these findings, we discuss whether varying degrees of lemming-dependency, combined with geographical differences in winter food availability, may explain previously published differences in arctic fox breeding patterns in high arctic Greenland.
Keywords: Greenland Metabarcoding Predation Trophic interactions Tundra
Programme: 1036
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Tignat-Perrier, R., Vogel, T. M., Técher, N., Larose, C., and Dommergue, A. (2022). Microorganisms Floating Through the Air.
Abstract: Would you believe us if we told you that, when you breathe in, you inhale thousands of microorganisms with every breath. Although this might sound scary, be assured that they are safe for your health. These airborne microorganisms, too small to see with the naked eye, consist of many different species. Who are they? Where do they come from? What do they do in the air? These are some of the questions that we answer in this article, although many questions about airborne microorganisms remain to be explored.
Programme: 1028
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