The Antarctic Penguin Biogeography Project is an effort to collate all known information about the distribution and abundance of Antarctic penguins through time and to make such data available to the scientific and management community. The core data product involves a series of structured tables with information on known breeding sites and surveys conducted at those sites from the earliest days of Antarctic exploration through to the present. This database, which is continuously updated as new information becomes available, provides a unified and comprehensive repository of information on Antarctic penguin biogeography that contributes to a growing suite of applications of value to the Antarctic community. One such application is the Mapping Application for Antarctic Penguins and Projected Dynamics (MAPPPD; www.penguinmap.com) - a browser-based search and visualization tool designed primarily for policymakers and other non-specialists (Humphries et al., 2017), and ‘mapppdr’, an R package developed to assist the Antarctic science community. The Antarctic Penguin Biogeography Project has been funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Pew Fellowship for Marine Conservation, and the Institute for Advanced Computational Sciences at Stony Brook University. Antarctic Penguin Biogeography Project: Database of abundance and distribution for the Adélie, chinstrap, gentoo, emperor, macaroni, and king penguin south of 60 S is an occurrence and sampling event type dataset published by SCAR-AntBIOS. This dataset contains records of Pygoscelis adeliae, Pygoscelis antarctica, Pygoscelis papua, Eudyptes chrysolophus, Aptenodytes patagonicus, and Aptenodytes forsteri annual nest, adult, and/or chick counts conducted during field expeditions or collected using remote sensing imagery, that were subsequently gathered by the Antarctic Penguin Biogeography Project from published and unpublished sources, at all known Antarctic penguin breeding colonies south of 60 S from 1892-11-01 to 2022-02-12. The data is published as a standardized Darwin Core Archive and includes an event core and occurrence and eMoF extensions. This dataset is published by SCAR-AntOBIS under the license CC-BY 4.0. Please follow the guidelines from the SCAR Data Policy (SCAR, 2023) when using the data. If you have any questions regarding this dataset, please contact us via the contact information provided in the metadata or via data-biodiversity-aq@naturalsciences.be. Issues with dataset can be reported at https://github.com/biodiversity-aq/data-publication/ This dataset is part of the Antarctic Penguin Biogeography Project project funded by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Pew Fellowship for Marine Conservation, and the Institute for Advanced Computational Sciences at Stony Brook University.

Data were collected from two penguin monitoring sites in the Antarctic peninsula region between 1977 and 2015 using traditional census methods. Seabirds observed in this study are Adélie (Pygoscelis adeliae), chinstrap (P. antarctica), and gentoo (P. papua) penguins. The two study sites are the US AMLR Program sites at Cape Shirreff (Livingston Island) and Copacabana (King George Island).

The fundamental long-term objective of the seabird component of the Palmer LTER (PAL) has been to identify and understand the mechanistic processes that regulate the mean fitness (population growth rate) of regional penguin populations. Two hypotheses have guided this research, with one suggesting that population mean fitness is best explained by changes in regional krill biomass, and the other proposing that long-term changes in sea ice affects mean fitness by tipping the balance in favor of one species over another in accordance with species-specific evolved life history affinities to sea ice. Although these hypotheses are not mutually exclusive, current evidence in the PAL region tends to favor the latter over the former. Since the inception of PAL, Adélie penguin populations have effectively collapsed, while those of gentoo and chinstrap penguins have increased dramatically, trends that are spatially and temporally coherent with decreasing regional sea ice duration. Adélie penguins are an ice-obligate polar species whose life history is intimately linked to the presence of sea ice, while chinstrap and gentoo penguins are ice-intolerant species whose life histories evolved in the sub-Antarctic, where sea ice is a less permanent feature of the marine ecosystem. In contrast, although krill constitute the most important component of the summer diets by mass of these three penguin species, changes in PAL krill abundances have exhibited no long-term trends, and thus fail to explain the divergent patterns in penguin populations evident in our time series. The PAL study region includes five main islands on which Adélie penguin colonies have historically occurred. These are censused synoptically once a year to determine the overall size of the breeding population. The optimal census date may vary by a few days each season, but ultimately tries to capture the week following peak egg laying when the total number of breeding pairs reaches a maximum. The timing of this census is assisted by the REPRO and HUMPOP data, which provide a daily to weekly rate of change in breeding adult population numbers as new nests are initiated. This census is useful for a number of assessments, one of the most critical being that it directly reflects the effects of environmental variability on adult overwinter survival. Dr. Megan Cimino took over as PI of the LTER seabird project in 2020 from Dr. William Fraser. Field data collection between 2020-2022 has remained consistent with previous years.

A ReadMe file is included in the data package describing the various data layers.

This indicator is no longer maintained, and is considered OBSOLETE.

INDICATOR DEFINITION Breeding populations of Adelie penguins at Davis, Mawson and Casey (including Shirley Island and Whitney Point).

TYPE OF INDICATOR There are three types of indicators used in this report: 1. Describes the CONDITION of important elements of a system; 2. Show the extent of the major PRESSURES exerted on a system; 3. Determine RESPONSES to either condition or changes in the condition of a system.

This indicator is one of: CONDITION

RATIONALE FOR INDICATOR SELECTION The breeding population of Adelie penguins is related to resource availability (nesting space and food), behavioural mechanisms (immigration/emigration and breeding effort/success) in addition to climate change and human impacts (fisheries, tourism, pollution, disturbance). Monitoring these colonies and interpretation of the data provides information on changes in the Antarctic ecosystem.

DESIGN AND STRATEGY FOR INDICATOR MONITORING PROGRAM Spatial scale: Colonies near Australian Stations - Casey (lat 66 deg 16' 54.5" S, long 110 deg 31' 39.4" E) Davis (lat 68 deg 34' 35.8" S, long 77 deg 58' 02.6" E) Mawson (lat 67 deg 36' 09.7" S, long 62 deg 52' 25.7" E)

All colonies on - Shirley Island (lat 66 deg 16' 55.9" S, long 110 deg 29' 17.9" E) and Whitney Point (lat 66 deg 15' 08.6" S, long 110 deg 31' 40.1" E)

Frequency: Annual surveys at Shirley Island and Whitney Point. Other colonies every 2-3 years, depending on logistical constraints.

Measurement technique: Each colony is visited and all breeding birds are counted from the ground by two or three personnel performing replicate counts. Supplementary census data are obtained from oblique ground and aerial photographs. All breeding adults in a colony are counted.

Considerations regarding disturbance associated with census visits are also incorporated into monitoring strategies. The lack of annual census data for some colonies does not reduce the value of these long-term monitoring programmes.

RESEARCH ISSUES Adelie Penguin populations throughout East Antarctica have shown sustained, long-term increases for the past 30 or more years; in contrast, populations elsewhere around the Antarctic and on the Antarctic Peninsula have exhibited decreases or no clear long-term trends (Woehler et al. 2001). Greater coverage of colonies throughout the AAT would provide a more accurate estimate of the total annual breeding population in East Antarctica. In addition to basic inventory requirements, data on the population trends would contribute to a better understanding of the role of Adelie penguins in the Antarctic ecosystem, and provide managers with feedback or management strategies.

LINKS TO OTHER INDICATORS

Ground counts of King Penguin Aptenodytes patagonicuseggs, chicks, fledglings and adults at Gadget Gully on Macquarie Island (1993-2008 incomplete). Counts were obtained in the field by observers at Gadget gully. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when blubber oil fuelled house lamps, the king penguin population at Macquarie Island was reduced from two very large (perhaps hundreds of thousands of birds) colonies to about 3000 birds. One colony, located on the isthmus when the island was discovered in 1810, was extinct by 1894 and it took about 100 years for king penguins to re-establish a viable breeding population there. Here we document this recovery. The first eggs laid at Gadget Gully on the isthmus were recorded in late February 1995 but in subsequent years egg laying took place earlier between November and February (this temporal discontinuity is a consequence of king penguin breeding behaviour). The first chick was hatched in April 1995 but the first fledging was not raised until the following breeding season in October 1996. The colony increased on average 66% per annum in the five years between 1995 and 2000. King penguins appear resilient to catastrophic population reductions, and as the island’s population increases, it is likely that other previously abandoned breeding sites will be reoccupied.

Metadata record for data from ASAC Project 484 See the link below for public details on this project.

---- Public Summary from Project ---- Emperor penguins are the only birds that breed in the Antarctic winter. They feed mainly on fish and squid but also ingest krill. Changes in food availability due to oceanographic or climatic factors, or to the extent of sea ice (through the processes of global warming) will have a direct impact on the breeding success and population size of the penguins. By counting the number of males that incubate at mid-winter each year, we can monitor trends in their population size. Counts of fledglings in spring (November) tell us how successful the penguins bred.

The download file contains an excel spreadsheet which presents a summary of known Emperor Penguin colonies in the area of the Australian Antarctic Territory (AAT), and a file which details counts of male emperor penguins at the Taylor Glacier colony.

A description of the column headings used in the spreadsheet is below.

Colony: Colony name

lat, long: latitude and longitude of colony

discovered: date colony was discovered

current est pop (BP): Current estimated population size in breeding pairs - current as at date the colony was last seen

last seen: date the colony was last seen

counting method: method used to count the breeding pairs in the colony

comments: any applicable comments

reference: references relating to the colony

Taken from the 2009-2010 Progress Report: Public summary of the season progress: Population size of colonies fluctuates which is why long term monitoring studies are necessary to detect trends. At the emperor penguin colony at Taylor Glacier, monitored continuously since 1988, a slight downward trend is apparent but is not (yet?) statistically significant. The colony was visited three times: once in winter to obtain an estimate of the number of adults in the colony (roughly equivalent to the number of breeding pairs), and twice during the late chick rearing season to estimate breeding success. The count of adults in 2009 was the lowest on record. Reasons for this are still unknown.

Understanding the boundaries of breeding populations is of great importance for conservation efforts and estimates of extinction risk for threatened species. However, determining these boundaries can be difficult when population structure is subtle. Emperor penguins are highly reliant on sea ice, and some populations may be in jeopardy as climate change alters sea-ice extent and quality. An understanding of emperor penguin population structure is therefore urgently needed. Two previous studies have differed in their conclusions, particularly whether the Ross Sea, a major stronghold for the species, is isolated or not. We assessed emperor penguin population structure using 4,596 genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), characterized in 110 individuals (10–16 per colony) from eight colonies around Antarctica. In contrast to a previous conclusion that emperor penguins are panmictic around the entire continent, we find that emperor penguins comprise at least four metapopulations, and that the Ross Sea is clearly a distinct metapopulation. Using larger sample sizes and a thorough assessment of the limitations of different analytical methods, we have shown that population structure within emperor penguins does exist and argue that its recognition is vital for the effective conservation of the species. We discuss the many difficulties that molecular ecologists and managers face in the detection and interpretation of subtle population structure using large SNP data sets, and argue that subtle structure should be taken into account when determining management strategies for threatened species, until accurate estimates of demographic connectivity among populations can be made.,Emperor penguin neutral SNP datasetEP_final.vcf

Emperor penguin colonies 2009. Size of circle relates to estimated number of pairs in each colony. (EPS)

The fundamental long-term objective of the seabird component of the Palmer LTER (PAL) has been to identify and understand the mechanistic processes that regulate the mean fitness (population growth rate) of regional penguin populations. Two hypotheses have guided this research, with one suggesting that population mean fitness is best explained by changes in regional krill biomass, and the other proposing that long-term changes in sea ice affects mean fitness by tipping the balance in favor of one species over another in accordance with species-specific evolved life history affinities to sea ice. Although these hypotheses are not mutually exclusive, current evidence in the PAL region tends to favor the latter over the former. Since the inception of PAL, Adélie penguin populations have effectively collapsed, while those of gentoo and chinstrap penguins have increased dramatically, trends that are spatially and temporally coherent with decreasing regional sea ice duration. Adélie penguins are an ice-obligate polar species whose life history is intimately linked to the presence of sea ice, while chinstrap and gentoo penguins are ice-intolerant species whose life histories evolved in the sub-Antarctic, where sea ice is a less permanent feature of the marine ecosystem. In contrast, although krill constitute the most important component of the summer diets by mass of these three penguin species, changes in PAL krill abundances have exhibited no long-term trends, and thus fail to explain the divergent patterns in penguin populations evident in our time series. The arrival chronology of adult Adélie penguins on Humble Island is documented annually through island-wide censuses performed as ice and weather conditions permit. Recorded data (numbers of adults present) provide a measure of the number of adults arriving daily at the breeding colonies, a metric that is sensitive to environmental conditions such as sea ice extent during late winter and early spring. These data are also used in combination with other metrics to determine the optimal window for other, more extensive area-wide breeding population censuses (see CENSUS). Dr. Megan Cimino took over as PI of the LTER seabird project in 2020 from Dr. William Fraser. Field data collection between 2020-2022 has remained consistent with previous years. No data collected during the 2021-2022 season due to the Palmer Station Pier Build.

Abstract: The emperor penguin, an iconic species threatened by projected sea-ice loss in Antarctica, has long been considered to forage at the fast ice edge, presumably relying on large/yearly-persistent polynyas as their main foraging habitat during the breeding season. Using newly developed fine-scale sea-icescape data and historical penguin tracking data, this study for the first time suggests the importance of less-recognized small openings, including cracks, flaw leads and ephemeral short-term polynyas, as foraging habitats for emperor penguins. The tracking data retrieved from 47 emperor penguins in two different colonies in East Antarctica suggest that those penguins spent 23% of their time in ephemeral polynyas and did not use the large/yearly-persistent, well-studied polynyas, even they occur much more regularly with predictable locations. These findings challenge our previous understanding of emperor penguin breeding habitats, highlighting the need for incorporating fine-scale seascape features when assessing the population persistence in a rapidly changing polar environment.

Understanding changes in abundance is crucial for conservation, but population growth rates often vary over space and time. We use 40 years of count data (1979–2019) and Bayesian state-space models to assess the African penguin Spheniscus demersus population under IUCN Red List Criterion A. We deconstruct the overall decline in time and space to identify where urgent conservation action is needed. The global African penguin population met the threshold for Endangered with a high probability (97%), having declined by almost 65% since 1989. An historical low of ~17,700 pairs bred in 2019. Annual changes were faster in the South African population (−4.2%, highest posterior density interval, HPDI: −7.8 to −0.6%) than the Namibian one (−0.3%, HPDI: −3.3 to +2.6%), and since 1999 were almost −10% at South African colonies north of Cape Town. Over the 40-year period, the Eastern Cape colonies went from holding ~25% of the total penguin population to ~40% as numbers decreased more rapidly elsew...

Intermittent Adelie penguin population counts for Bechervaise, Verner and Petersen Islands, Mawson since 1971. Data include counts of occupied nests for the post 1990/91 data conducted on or about 2nd December. Data collected prior to this were obtained from ANARE Research Notes or field note books. These counts may not have been performed at the 'optimal' time for occupied nests counts, and when this is the case have been adjusted according to a 'correction' factor.

The post 1990/91 data were completed as part of ASAC Project 2205, Adelie penguin research and monitoring in support of the CCAMLR Ecosystem Monitoring Project.

The fields in this dataset are:

Year Bechervaise Island Counts Verner Island Counts Petersen Island Counts Date Season occ nests (occupied nests)

Understanding changes in abundance is crucial for conservation, but population growth rates often vary over space and time. We use 40 years of count data (1979–2019) and Bayesian state-space models to assess the African penguin Spheniscus demersus population under IUCN Red List Criterion A. We deconstruct the overall decline in time and space to identify where urgent conservation action is needed. The global African penguin population met the threshold for Endangered with a high probability (97%), having declined by almost 65% since 1989. An historical low of ~17,700 pairs bred in 2019. Annual changes were faster in the South African population (−4.2%, highest posterior density interval, HPDI: −7.8 to −0.6%) than the Namibian one (−0.3%, HPDI: −3.3 to +2.6%), and since 1999 were almost −10% at South African colonies north of Cape Town. Over the 40-year period, the Eastern Cape colonies went from holding ~25% of the total penguin population to ~40% as numbers decreased more rapidly elsewhere. These changes coincided with an altered abundance and availability of the main prey of African penguins. Our results underline the dynamic nature of population declines in space as well as time and highlight which penguin colonies require urgent conservation attention.

Seabirds are considered to be useful and practical indicators of the state of marine ecosystems because they integrate across changes in the lower trophic levels and the physical environment. Signals from this key group of species can indicate broad scale impacts or response to environmental change. Recent studies of penguin populations, the most commonly abundant Antarctic seabirds in the west Antarctic Peninsula and western Ross Sea, have demonstrated that physical changes in Antarctic marine environments have profound effects on biota at high trophic levels. Large populations of the circumpolar-breeding Adélie penguin occur in East Antarctica, but direct, standardized population data across much of this vast coastline have been more limited than in other Antarctic regions. We combine extensive new population survey data, new population estimation methods, and re-interpreted historical survey data to assess decadal-scale change in East Antarctic Adélie penguin breeding populations. We show that, in contrast to the west Antarctic Peninsula and western Ross Sea where breeding populations have decreased or shown variable trends over the last 30 years, East Antarctic regional populations have almost doubled in abundance since the 1980's and have been increasing since the earliest counts in the 1960's. The population changes are associated with five-year lagged changes in the physical environment, suggesting that the changing environment impacts primarily on the pre-breeding age classes. East Antarctic marine ecosystems have been subject to a number of changes over the last 50 years which may have influenced Adélie penguin population growth, including decadal-scale climate variation, an inferred mid-20th century sea-ice contraction, and early-to-mid 20th century exploitation of fish and whale populations.

This dataset contains data on the habitats, distribution and numbers of Adelie Penguins (Pygoscellis adeliae) along the Vestfold Hills coast (including colonies on the mainland and offshore islands) …Show full descriptionThis dataset contains data on the habitats, distribution and numbers of Adelie Penguins (Pygoscellis adeliae) along the Vestfold Hills coast (including colonies on the mainland and offshore islands) during November 1973. The data are obtained from counts at the colonies and black and white photographs. Some aerial photographs were taken at Davis in 1981-82 and 1987-88, and will be compared to the results of this survey. The results are listed in the documentation. A total of 174178 26127 breeding pairs were counted. An increase in Adelie penguin population was found at most locations in East Antarctica. Data from this record has been incorporated into a larger Adelie penguin dataset described by the metadata record - Annual population counts at selected Adelie Penguin colonies within the AAT (SOE_seabird_candidate_sp_AP). It also falls under ASAC project 1219 (ASAC_1219).

Individuals and pairs of Adelie and Emperor penguins were counted at the breeding colonies near Syowa Station. Their numbers are recorded in this data set.

This indicator is no longer maintained, and is considered OBSOLETE.

INDICATOR DEFINITION Demographic parameters for the Adelie penguin at Bechervaise Island near Mawson.

TYPE OF INDICATOR There are three types of indicators used in this report: 1.Describes the CONDITION of important elements of a system; 2.Show the extent of the major PRESSURES exerted on a system; 3.Determine RESPONSES to either condition or changes in the condition of a system.

This indicator is one of: CONDITION

RATIONALE FOR INDICATOR SELECTION The Adelie penguin is a relatively long lived sea bird dependent on krill. It is expected that major changes in the availability of food (krill) to sea birds will be reflected ultimately in recruitment into the breeding population. Causes of changes in the availability of krill relate directly to changes in both the biological and physical environment brought about by man made or natural means. Ageing populations may give an outward appearance of stability in terms of numbers at a breeding colony but such a condition may mask a decline in recruitment. To determine whether there are environmental influences on the population it is necessary to undertake detailed demographic studies.

Demographic studies carried out over many years on animal populations comprising known age cohorts are required to determine those factors responsible for any observed changes in recruitment and/or mortality. Population reconstruction techniques provide estimates of recruitment and mortality and relate these functions to population size and/or population trends. These studies may alert us to possible changes in the ecosystem particularly related to the availability of food to the penguins or changes to the physical environment. The identification of the cause of changes must come from detailed investigations of food availability and the environment carried out at the same time.

Annual breeding success at Bechervaise Island (eggs laid to chicks fledged) varies enormously from 0 in catastrophic years to above 1 for good seasons. The population at Bechervaise Island near Mawson has been monitored since 1990 as part of the CCAMLR Ecosystem Monitoring Program. Chicks and adults have been tagged annually. The number of breeding pairs has increased slightly between 1990-2001, but changes in the non -breeding population are unknown. Demographic studies based on the return rate of birds tagged as chicks provide information on trends in the overall population and the net rate of recruitment. Since it is intended that this program be undertaken indefinitely it makes this population an excellent subject for monitoring in the context of the SOE.

DESIGN AND STRATEGY FOR INDICATOR MONITORING PROGRAM Spatial Scale: Restricted to the Mawson region. Similar studies are carried out by other national research programs at Terra Nova Bay (Italy) and on the Antarctic Peninsula (USA).

Frequency: Annual

Measurement Technique: The Adelie penguin population at Bechervaise Island consists of approximately 1800 breeding pairs. Each breeding season since 1990/91 in excess of 250 chicks have been given implanted electronic identification tags. The return of birds to their natal colony has been detected automatically by the Automated Penguin Monitoring System (APMS)or by checking all birds with a hand held tag reader. Additional and associated biological data as prescribed by CCAMLR (1997 are collected to aid interpretation of demographic and other trends. To detect trends in the population size and in demographic parameters, particularly of recruitment, it will be necessary to maintain an annual tagging program of chicks and recording of all tagged birds.

RESEARCH ISSUES comprehensive analysis of the data collected over the duration of this study is required to determine natural variation and potential anthropogenic influences affecting Adelie penguin population dynamics.

LINKS TO OTHER INDICATORS Sea-ice extent and concentration.

The African penguin (Spheniscus demersus) population is estimated at 25,000 breeding pairs, approximately 5% of that at the start of the 20th century, and the species is currently classified as Endangered. In the last two decades, the hand-rearing of penguin chicks that were abandoned by their parents due to oil spills or other circumstances has become a valuable conservation tool to limit mortality and to bolster the population at specific colonies. We summarize and evaluate the techniques employed by the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB) to incubate and hand-rear African penguin eggs and chicks. From 2012 to 2016, a total of 694 eggs and 2819 chicks were received by SANCCOB’s Chick Rearing Unit. It was estimated that 13% of the eggs were infertile, and 81% of the fertile eggs hatched successfully. The overall release rate for chicks was 77%, with a higher release rate for chicks that were pre-emptively removed (93%) followed by chicks that had been abandoned by their parents (78%), chicks admitted due to avian pox lesions (61%), chicks that hatched from artificially-incubated eggs (57%), and chicks admitted due to injuries or deformities (25%). Rescuing and hand-rearing eggs and chicks has been a successful strategy for African penguins, and might be also applicable for the conservation of other threatened seabird species whose population are critically low or during natural or anthropogenic events that could have disastrous population impacts (e.g. oil spills, disease outbreaks, catastrophic weather events, strong El Niño years, etc.).