The influence of subcolony-scale nesting habitat on the reproductive success of Adelie penguins.

ABSTRACT: Group-size variation is common in colonially breeding species, including seabirds, whose breeding colonies can vary in size by several orders of magnitude. Seabirds are some of the most threatened marine taxa and understanding the drivers of colony size variation is more important than ever. Reproductive success is an important demographic parameter that can impact colony size, and it varies in association with a number of factors, including nesting habitat quality. Within colonies, seabirds often aggregate into distinct groups or subcolonies that may vary in quality. We used data from two colonies of Adélie penguins 73 km apart on Ross Island, Antarctica, one large and one small to investigate (1) How subcolony habitat characteristics influence reproductive success and (2) How these relat

SUBMITTER: Schmidt AE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8319293 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature