Monitoring the global population of emperor penguins is a major challenge.
Monitoring the global population of emperor penguins is a major challenge. Not only do they inhabit Antarctica’s harsh, remote environment, their colony occupancy also fluctuates based on a series of factors. A new study published in Nature Communications, “Remote sensing of emperor penguin abundance and breeding success,” draws attention to these challenges and presents a method that can accurately predict the number of breeding pairs as well as fledging chicks.
Over the last two decades, researchers have been using satellite imagery, among other technologies, as means for keeping track of this threatened species. While it has provided valuable population data, the counts to date are still inconsistent and unreliable for a variety of reasons. The first is that satellite images can only be taken between October and April, otherwise there isn’t enough light to capture the species at their breeding sites, mostly on sea ice. Another challenge of satellite imagery is that the number of penguins present at a colony can highly vary, as adults may come and go. It also cannot capture chicks.
What this new method accomplishes is to use satellite imagery in conjunction with a phenological and a behavioral model.
Read more at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Photo Credit: MemoryCatcher via Pixabay
