Little auks buffer the impact of current Arctic climate change

David Grémillet; Jorg Welcker; Nina J. Karnovsky; Wojciech Walkusz; Margaret E. Hall; Jérôme Fort; Zachary W. Brown; John R. Speakman; Ann M. A. Harding

doi:10.3354/meps09590

MEPS

Marine Ecology Progress Series

via Mailchimp

MEPS 454:197-206 (2012) - DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/meps09590

Little auks buffer the impact of current Arctic climate change

David Grémillet^1,2,*, Jorg Welcker³, Nina J. Karnovsky⁴, Wojciech Walkusz^5,6, Margaret E. Hall⁷, Jérôme Fort⁸, Zachary W. Brown⁴, John R. Speakman⁹, Ann M. A. Harding¹⁰

¹Centre d’Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive, UMR5175, CNRS-INEE, 1919 route de Mende, 34293 Montpellier Cedex 5, France
²Percy FitzPatrick Institute, DST/NRF Centre of Excellence, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch 7701, South Africa
³Norwegian Polar Institute, Fram Centre, 9296 Tromsø, Norway
⁴Pomona College, Department of Biology, 175 W. Sixth Street, Claremont, California 91771, USA
⁵Institute of Oceanology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Powstańców Warszawy 55, 81-712 Sopot, Poland
⁶Freshwater Institute, Fisheries and Oceans, 501 University Crescent, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3T 2N6, Canada
⁷BirdWatch Ireland, Unit 20 Block D, Bullford Business Campus, Kilcoole, Co. Wicklow, Ireland
⁸Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Frederiksborgvej 399, 4000 Roskilde, Denmark
⁹School of Biological Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Tillydrone Avenue, Aberdeen AB24 2TZ, UK
¹⁰Alaska Pacific University, Environmental Science Department, 4101 University Drive, Anchorage, Alaska 99508, USA

*Email: david.gremillet@cefe.cnrs.fr

ABSTRACT: Climate models predict a multi-degree warming of the North Atlantic in the 21st century. A research priority is to understand the effect of such changes upon marine organisms. With 40 to 80 million individuals, planktivorous little auks Alle alle are an essential component of pelagic food webs in this region that is potentially highly susceptible to climatic effects. Using an integrative study of their behaviour, physiology and fitness at 3 study sites, we evaluated the effect of ocean warming on little auks across the Greenland Sea in 2005 to 2007. Contrary to our hypothesis, the birds responded to a wide range of sea surface temperatures via plasticity of their foraging behaviour, allowing them to maintain their fitness levels. Predicted effects of climate change are significantly attenuated by such plasticity, confounding attempts to forecast future effects of climate change using envelope models.

KEY WORDS: Behavioural plasticity · Envelope models · Global warming · North Atlantic · Pelagic food web · Zooplankton

Full text in pdf format

Cite this article as: Grémillet D, Welcker J, Karnovsky NJ, Walkusz W and others (2012) Little auks buffer the impact of current Arctic climate change. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 454:197-206. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps09590

Export citation
Share: Facebook - - linkedIn

Cited by

Previous article Next article

MEPS 454:197-206 (2012) - DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/meps09590

Little auks buffer the impact of current Arctic climate change

David Grémillet1,2,*, Jorg Welcker3, Nina J. Karnovsky4, Wojciech Walkusz5,6, Margaret E. Hall7, Jérôme Fort8, Zachary W. Brown4, John R. Speakman9, Ann M. A. Harding10

David Grémillet^1,2,*, Jorg Welcker³, Nina J. Karnovsky⁴, Wojciech Walkusz^5,6, Margaret E. Hall⁷, Jérôme Fort⁸, Zachary W. Brown⁴, John R. Speakman⁹, Ann M. A. Harding¹⁰