During August and September 2023,three giant icebergs,each bigger than Paris,successively grazed Clarence Island in the northeast of the Antarctic Peninsula,a home to a population of over 100000 penguins.This incident...During August and September 2023,three giant icebergs,each bigger than Paris,successively grazed Clarence Island in the northeast of the Antarctic Peninsula,a home to a population of over 100000 penguins.This incident may serve as a clarion call for the increasing iceberg calving due to global warming and its subsequent impact on the Antarctic ecosystem.Here we investigate this unexpected event and employ historical records and probabilistic analyses of iceberg grounding to assess the degree of impact on penguin colonies of Clarence Island.Among the eleven colonies,there is one with low impact,eight with medium impact,and two with high impact.The low-impact colony,Cape Lloyd,is located in the northern part of the island,while the high-impact colonies,False Ridge and Pink Pool,are in the southeast.The eight medium-impact colonies are distributed along both the eastern and western coasts of the island.This study provides essential support for evaluating the impact of iceberg activity on penguin colonies.We argue that penguin colonies located in areas prone to iceberg drift,such as Clarence Island,may become more vulnerable to the heightened risk of iceberg collisions or groundings in the warming future.Therefore,we hope the public will become more aware of the grave impacts of climate change on penguins and underscore the urgent need for effective conservation strategies.展开更多
In this work,we report long-term trends in the abundance and breeding performance of Adélie penguins(Pygoscelis adeliae)nesting in three Antarctic colonies(i.e.,at Martin Point,South Orkneys Islands;Stranger Poin...In this work,we report long-term trends in the abundance and breeding performance of Adélie penguins(Pygoscelis adeliae)nesting in three Antarctic colonies(i.e.,at Martin Point,South Orkneys Islands;Stranger Point/Cabo Funes,South Shetland Islands;and Esperanza/Hope Bay in the Antarctic Peninsula)from 1995/96 to 2022/23.Using yearly count data of breeding groups selected,we observed a decline in the number of breeding pairs and chicks in crèche at all colonies studied.However,the magnitude of change was higher at Stranger Point than that in the remaining colonies.Moreover,the index of breeding success,which was calculated as the ratio of chicks in crèche to breeding pairs,exhibited no apparent trend throughout the study period.However,it displayed greater variability at Martin Point compared to the other two colonies under investigation.Although the number of chicks in crèche of Adélie penguins showed a declining pattern,the average breeding performance was similar to that reported in gentoo penguin colonies,specifically,those undergoing a population increase(even in sympatric colonies facing similar local conditions).Consequently,it is plausible to assume a reduction of the over-winter survival as a likely cause of the declining trend observed,at least in the Stranger Point and Esperanza colonies.However,we cannot rule out local effects during the breeding season affecting the Adélie population of Martin Point.展开更多
对海南黎安港的企鹅珍珠贝养殖群体的生长进行了20个月的观察,每月测量其壳高(SH)、最大对角线长(MDL)、绞合线长(HL)和总重(TW)四个生长指标,并用模型y=y∞/(1+e-k(t-a)+d sin (2п/365.25)(t-b))分别拟合这四个指标的生长曲线。结果表...对海南黎安港的企鹅珍珠贝养殖群体的生长进行了20个月的观察,每月测量其壳高(SH)、最大对角线长(MDL)、绞合线长(HL)和总重(TW)四个生长指标,并用模型y=y∞/(1+e-k(t-a)+d sin (2п/365.25)(t-b))分别拟合这四个指标的生长曲线。结果表明,三个长度指标中MDL生长速度最快,其理论最大值约为112mm;HL的生长在初期快于SH,但到养殖实验结束时两者接近,理论最大值都在85mm左右;总重的增长在实验的前半段非常缓慢,但到后半段呈加速增长趋势,其理论最大值约为115g。企鹅珍珠贝的生长特征表现为初期长度增长迅速,经过大约一年左右,长度的增长减缓,而重量的增长开始加快,符合双壳贝一般的增长模式。研究也表明,在海南黎安港,降雨季节与快速生长季节存在明显的对应关系,暗示了降雨可能是导致生长出现季节性特征的诱因。展开更多
Since the ban on the use of organochlorine pesticides （OCPs） such as dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane （DDT） and hexachlorocyclohexane（HCH） in agriculture, their levels have generally dropped. In a number of cas...Since the ban on the use of organochlorine pesticides （OCPs） such as dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane （DDT） and hexachlorocyclohexane（HCH） in agriculture, their levels have generally dropped. In a number of cases, however, the levels of these OCPs were found to be unchanging or even increasing after the ban. With the aim to unveil the possible causes of these exceptions, we collected two lake cores from King George Island, West Antarctica, and determined their accumulation flux profiles and temporal trends of these OCPs. In the lake core sediments with glacier meltwater input, the accumulation flux of DDT shows an abnormal peak around 1980s in addition to the expected one in 1960s. In the lake core sediments without glacier meltwater input, the accumulation flux of DDT shows a gradual decline trend after the peak in 1960s. This striking difference in the DDT flux profiles between the two lake cores is most likely caused by the regional climate warming and the resulted discharge of the DDT stored in the Antarctic ice cap into the lakes in the Antarctic glacier frontier. Furthermore, to investigate the change of OCPs loadings in the Antarctic coastal ecosystem, we reconstructed the HCH and DDT concentration profiles in penguin droppings and observed a gradual increase for the former and a continuous decrease for the latter during the past 50 years. The increase of HCH seems to be due to the regional warming from the early 1970s and the resulted HCH discharge to the coastal ecosystem by glaciers＇ meltwater and the illegal use of HCH in the Southern Hemisphere in the recent decade. The different temporal trends of HCH and DDT accumulation rate in the lake core with glacier meltwater input and the aged penguin droppings can be explained by their different water-soluble property.展开更多
During CHINARE 15(Dec. 1998 Mar. 1999), a lake core 67.5 cm in length, was sampled in Y2 lake, which is located on the Ardley Island, Antarctica. The concentrations of some chemical elements in Y2 lake sediments we...During CHINARE 15(Dec. 1998 Mar. 1999), a lake core 67.5 cm in length, was sampled in Y2 lake, which is located on the Ardley Island, Antarctica. The concentrations of some chemical elements in Y2 lake sediments were analyzed. According to comparative research on elementary characters of sediments in Antarctic West Lake, fresh penguin dropping as well as guano soil on the Ardley Island and Pacific Island in South China Sea, it presents that the Y2 lake sediments were ameliorated by penguin dropping. The result of element cluster analysis shows that the type elements in the sediment impacted by penguin dropping include Sr,F,S,P,Ca,Se,Cu,Zn and Ba. This can provide a base for further interpreting the climatic and environmental event recorded in the sediment.展开更多
An area of protruding feathers found around the beak of many penguin species is thought to induce a turbulent boun~dary layer whilst swimming. Hydrodynamic tests on a model Humboldt penguin, Spheniscus humboldti, sugg...An area of protruding feathers found around the beak of many penguin species is thought to induce a turbulent boun~dary layer whilst swimming. Hydrodynamic tests on a model Humboldt penguin, Spheniscus humboldti, suggest that induced turbulence causes a significant reduction in boundary layer height, flow separation, and an average of 31 % reduction in drag (1.0 m/s to 4.5 m/s). Visualisation of surface flow showed it to follow the body profile, over the feet and tail, before separating. Movement of the feet in swimming penguins correlates with steering of the bird. Induced turbulence may therefore further increase swimming efficiency by reducing the amount of foot movement required to direct the swimming bird.展开更多
Mercury （Hg） was investigated in bone tissues of skua （ Catharacta maccormick） and penguin （Pygoscelis adeliae） collected in the maritime Antarctic using atomic fluorescence spectrometry （AFS） and synchrotron ...Mercury （Hg） was investigated in bone tissues of skua （ Catharacta maccormick） and penguin （Pygoscelis adeliae） collected in the maritime Antarctic using atomic fluorescence spectrometry （AFS） and synchrotron radiation X-ray fluorescence （SR-XRF） method. The total levels of mercury in bone tissues of penguin and skua are much lower than those in other organs （e. g. , kidney, liver）. The toxic effects of mercury in bone tissues of seabirds in polar region are not known. We have used SR- XRF method to map the distribution of trace levels of mercury in bones. The levels of mercury are found to be enriched somewhere near the periosteal surface and/or endosteal surface. The distribution of mercury shows strongly correlation with that of some essential elements and probably poses negative effect on the bone metabolism inferring from the relationship of mercury with the other elements. These studies represent a first step toward understanding the toxic effects of mercury on bone of polar animals by suggesting the possible microscopic investigation.展开更多
Cadmium-metallothionein （Cd-MT） of Pteria penguin was used to immunize domestic rabbit in order to obtain polyclonal antibody against Cd-MT. Using the anti-Cd-MT antibody, a method of indirect non-competitive enzyme...Cadmium-metallothionein （Cd-MT） of Pteria penguin was used to immunize domestic rabbit in order to obtain polyclonal antibody against Cd-MT. Using the anti-Cd-MT antibody, a method of indirect non-competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay （non-competitive ELISA） was established to detect shellfish Cd-MT. In this case, the minimum detectable concentration of P. penguin Cd-MT was （4.563±0.051） ng/mL. The linear range of detection was 9.75-2.0×104 ng/mL. Intra-assay relative standard deviation （RSD） was less than 11.6%, and inter-assay RSD less than 6.7%. The recovery rates ranged from 83.7% to 119.0%. The polyclonal antibody against Cd-MT of P. penguin can also be used to detect MT of other four types of shellfish. In the crude extracts from different organs of P. penguin, the MT concentrations determined by this method matched well with the concentrations of cadmium detected by the atomic absorption spectroscopy.展开更多
Synchrotron radiation X-ray fluorescence （SR-XRF） approach was applied to analyzing of Chinstrap penguin （ Pygoscelis Antarctica） cortical bone. The method enabled the in situ determination of Ca and P concentrati...Synchrotron radiation X-ray fluorescence （SR-XRF） approach was applied to analyzing of Chinstrap penguin （ Pygoscelis Antarctica） cortical bone. The method enabled the in situ determination of Ca and P concentrations and the Ca/P ratio in cortical bone. The preliminary results show that ： （ 1 ） there is the bone site-related difference for Ca and P concentrations. The mean values for the investigated parameters （ on a dry-weight basis） are： 30.7% （Ca） and 14.9% （P） for the femoral cortical bone, 21.4% （Ca） and 11.5% （P） for wing cortical bone. （2） The variation for the Ca/P ratio in cortical bone is lower than those for Ca and P separately. This is in agreement with the previous report that the specificity of the Ca/P ratio is better than that of Ca and P concentrations and is more reliable for the diagnosis of bone disorders. The authors suggest that further studies be conducted to establish norreal values of Ca, P and Ca/P ratio for polar animals and provide a basis for the diagnosis of bone disorders.展开更多
In recent decades, polar regions of the planet have witnessed an increase in human presence. Antarctica is considered one of the most pristine regions of the world, but it could be affected by pollution owing to anthr...In recent decades, polar regions of the planet have witnessed an increase in human presence. Antarctica is considered one of the most pristine regions of the world, but it could be affected by pollution owing to anthropogenic activities, particularly in the Antarctic Peninsula. Human presence can increase the levels of some trace metals in Antarctic environments, an issue that needs to be evaluated. To acquire data of trace metal contamination in the Antarctic Peninsula region, concentrations （dry weight） of Cd, Pb, As, Cu, Hg and Zn in fresh excrement of Ad61ie penguins were determined by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. During the 2012/2013 austral summer, samples were collected from four important nesting sites on the Antarctic Peninsula： Arctowski Base, Kopaitic Island （both sites in the northern Antarctic Peninsula）, Yalour Island and Avian Island （both sites in the southern Antarctic Peninsula）. Data showed that Ad61ie penguin excreta had significantly higher levels （mg.kg~） of As, Cd, Hg, Pb and Cu at Arctowski Base and Kopaitic Island, both sites that have major anthropogenic activities that probably contributed to increased metal levels. The levels of trace metals in Ad61ie penguins were similar to those reported in excreta of Antarctic species in previous studies, and lower than those in excreta of other Antarctic animals. Data suggest that metals ingested by these penguin species that feed in the sea, end up in terrestrial ecosystems.展开更多
In Antarctica, the marine ecosystem is dynamically interrelated with the terrestrial ecosystem. An example of the link between these two ecosystems is the biogeochemical cycle of phosphorus. Bio- vectors, such as peng...In Antarctica, the marine ecosystem is dynamically interrelated with the terrestrial ecosystem. An example of the link between these two ecosystems is the biogeochemical cycle of phosphorus. Bio- vectors, such as penguins, transport phosphorus from sea to land, play a key role in this cycle. In this paper, we selected three colonies of penguins, the most important seabirds in Antarctica, and computed the annual quantity of phosphorus transferred from sea to land by these birds. Our results show that adult penguins from colonies at Ardley Island, the Vestfold Hills, and Ross Island could transfer phosphorus in the form of guano at up to 12 349, 167 036, and 97 841 kg/a, respectively, over their breeding period. These quantities are equivalent to an annual input of 3.96× 10^9-1.63 × 10^10 kg of seawater to the land of Antarctica. Finally, we discuss the impact of phosphorus on the ice-flee areas of the Antarctica.展开更多
All 18 extant species of penguin are strongly countershaded,having dark dorsal and light ventral coloration.In this paper,the thermal effects of this body color in penguins are investigated through analytical and obse...All 18 extant species of penguin are strongly countershaded,having dark dorsal and light ventral coloration.In this paper,the thermal effects of this body color in penguins are investigated through analytical and observational analyses.First,a thermal analysis that takes into account the environmental characteristics of penguins’habitats,fluxes,and morphology is used to analytically calculate penguin dorsal surface temperature.Next,a turbulent analytical solution for a heated boundary layer over a flat plate is applied to show that the dark color on the top of the penguins’bodies is very effective at skin drag reduction.To verify this result,a 2D model penguin is computationally analyzed at different temperatures,confirming in principle underwater skin drag reduction through color-based surface warming with efficiency savings of up to 30%.Finally,to study how color-based increases in body surface temperatures are maintained through foraging dives,thermal cameras are used to measure the surface temperature of captive penguins before and after dives.This study shows conceptually that dark dorsal coloration in penguins could have a significant influence on in-water drag.展开更多
Nowadays,due to the increase in information resources,the number of parameters and complexity of feature vectors increases.Optimizationmethods offermore practical solutions instead of exact solutions for the solution ...Nowadays,due to the increase in information resources,the number of parameters and complexity of feature vectors increases.Optimizationmethods offermore practical solutions instead of exact solutions for the solution of this problem.The Emperor PenguinOptimizer(EPO)is one of the highest performing meta-heuristic algorithms of recent times that imposed the gathering behavior of emperor penguins.It shows the superiority of its performance over a wide range of optimization problems thanks to its equal chance to each penguin and its fast convergence features.Although traditional EPO overcomes the optimization problems in continuous search space,many problems today shift to the binary search space.Therefore,in this study,using the power of traditional EPO,binary EPO(BEPO)is presented for the effective solution of binary-nature problems.BEPO algorithm uses binary search space instead of searching solutions like conventional EPO algorithm in continuous search space.For this purpose,the sigmoidal functions are preferred in determining the emperor positions.In addition,the boundaries of the search space remain constant by choosing binary operators.BEPO’s performance is evaluated over twenty-nine benchmarking functions.Statistical evaluations are made to reveal the superiority of the BEPO algorithm.In addition,the performance of the BEPO algorithm was evaluated for the binary feature selection problem.The experimental results reveal that the BEPO algorithm outperforms the existing binary meta-heuristic algorithms in both tasks.展开更多
During the 2006/07 Antarctic summer,the species population,distribution and reproductive behavior of penguins in areas near the Great Wall Station were investigated.Five species of penguin were recorded：gentoo pengui...During the 2006/07 Antarctic summer,the species population,distribution and reproductive behavior of penguins in areas near the Great Wall Station were investigated.Five species of penguin were recorded：gentoo penguin（Pygoscelis papua）,adelie penguin（P.adeliae）,chinstrap penguin（P.antarctica）, King penguin（Aptenodytes patagonicus） and Emperor penguin（A.forsteri）. The first three species bred locally,while the other two species were observed occasionally.Ardley Island is one of the most important breeding areas for penguins.After the breeding season of 2006/07,there were a total of about 17 234 penguins and the breeding success rate was 0.40—1.41.Comparing with historical data,changes in penguin species populations and distribution were analyzed, and their relationships with the environment,climate change and human activity were investigated.展开更多
Penguin and skua in the maritime Antarctic have high salt loadings in the body due to almost exclusive diet consumption of marine invertebrates.However,the storage and turnover of sodium and potassium in these animals...Penguin and skua in the maritime Antarctic have high salt loadings in the body due to almost exclusive diet consumption of marine invertebrates.However,the storage and turnover of sodium and potassium in these animals are poorly investigated.Here we determined the concentration and microscopic distribution of the two elements in the bones of penguin and skua.The average concentrations of sodium and potassium in penguin bone were comparable with that in skua bone（0.18% and 0.82% for penguin bone;0.19% and 0.76% for skua bone in dry weight）.The ratios of sodium to calcium and potassium to calcium（0.0330 and 0.0075 for penguin,0.0335 and 0.0082 for skua in average by weight） were somewhat higher than the reported ratios for terrestrial animals,indicating these marine animals＇ bone enrichment of salt.The ratios of sodium to potassium in average by weight were 6.75 and 4.65 for penguin and skua,respectively.This value is much lower compared with the bulk sea water ratio of about 27.0,implying that potassium is favorable to reside in the bone rather than sodium.Both sodium and potassium were found to significant correlation with the content of organic materials in bone based upon the intensity of native signal determined by electron paramagnetic resonance（EPR）.It was estimated that almost all of potassium is kept within the organic phases,while about 30% of sodium is stored in organic phases and the other 70% within mineral phase.The microscopic distributions of potassium in the cross-section and/or surface were revealed by synchrotron radiation Xray fluorescence（SR-XRF） technique.The ratio of potassium to calcium based upon the SR-XRF intensity counter varied considerably from the surface to the interior,and on the surface the highest concentration of potassium was observed in the middle section with decreasing amounts toward the edge.This indirectly documented that exchange of potassium between fluid and bone organic phase maybe occur.展开更多
基金The National Natural Science Foundation of China under contract Nos 41925027 and 42206249.
文摘During August and September 2023,three giant icebergs,each bigger than Paris,successively grazed Clarence Island in the northeast of the Antarctic Peninsula,a home to a population of over 100000 penguins.This incident may serve as a clarion call for the increasing iceberg calving due to global warming and its subsequent impact on the Antarctic ecosystem.Here we investigate this unexpected event and employ historical records and probabilistic analyses of iceberg grounding to assess the degree of impact on penguin colonies of Clarence Island.Among the eleven colonies,there is one with low impact,eight with medium impact,and two with high impact.The low-impact colony,Cape Lloyd,is located in the northern part of the island,while the high-impact colonies,False Ridge and Pink Pool,are in the southeast.The eight medium-impact colonies are distributed along both the eastern and western coasts of the island.This study provides essential support for evaluating the impact of iceberg activity on penguin colonies.We argue that penguin colonies located in areas prone to iceberg drift,such as Clarence Island,may become more vulnerable to the heightened risk of iceberg collisions or groundings in the warming future.Therefore,we hope the public will become more aware of the grave impacts of climate change on penguins and underscore the urgent need for effective conservation strategies.
基金Nacional de Promoción Científica y Tecnológica(Grant:PICTO 2010-0111)the Instituto Antártico Argentino-Dirección Nacional del Antártico(PINST-05)provided financial and logistical support.
文摘In this work,we report long-term trends in the abundance and breeding performance of Adélie penguins(Pygoscelis adeliae)nesting in three Antarctic colonies(i.e.,at Martin Point,South Orkneys Islands;Stranger Point/Cabo Funes,South Shetland Islands;and Esperanza/Hope Bay in the Antarctic Peninsula)from 1995/96 to 2022/23.Using yearly count data of breeding groups selected,we observed a decline in the number of breeding pairs and chicks in crèche at all colonies studied.However,the magnitude of change was higher at Stranger Point than that in the remaining colonies.Moreover,the index of breeding success,which was calculated as the ratio of chicks in crèche to breeding pairs,exhibited no apparent trend throughout the study period.However,it displayed greater variability at Martin Point compared to the other two colonies under investigation.Although the number of chicks in crèche of Adélie penguins showed a declining pattern,the average breeding performance was similar to that reported in gentoo penguin colonies,specifically,those undergoing a population increase(even in sympatric colonies facing similar local conditions).Consequently,it is plausible to assume a reduction of the over-winter survival as a likely cause of the declining trend observed,at least in the Stranger Point and Esperanza colonies.However,we cannot rule out local effects during the breeding season affecting the Adélie population of Martin Point.
文摘对海南黎安港的企鹅珍珠贝养殖群体的生长进行了20个月的观察,每月测量其壳高(SH)、最大对角线长(MDL)、绞合线长(HL)和总重(TW)四个生长指标,并用模型y=y∞/(1+e-k(t-a)+d sin (2п/365.25)(t-b))分别拟合这四个指标的生长曲线。结果表明,三个长度指标中MDL生长速度最快,其理论最大值约为112mm;HL的生长在初期快于SH,但到养殖实验结束时两者接近,理论最大值都在85mm左右;总重的增长在实验的前半段非常缓慢,但到后半段呈加速增长趋势,其理论最大值约为115g。企鹅珍珠贝的生长特征表现为初期长度增长迅速,经过大约一年左右,长度的增长减缓,而重量的增长开始加快,符合双壳贝一般的增长模式。研究也表明,在海南黎安港,降雨季节与快速生长季节存在明显的对应关系,暗示了降雨可能是导致生长出现季节性特征的诱因。
文摘Since the ban on the use of organochlorine pesticides （OCPs） such as dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane （DDT） and hexachlorocyclohexane（HCH） in agriculture, their levels have generally dropped. In a number of cases, however, the levels of these OCPs were found to be unchanging or even increasing after the ban. With the aim to unveil the possible causes of these exceptions, we collected two lake cores from King George Island, West Antarctica, and determined their accumulation flux profiles and temporal trends of these OCPs. In the lake core sediments with glacier meltwater input, the accumulation flux of DDT shows an abnormal peak around 1980s in addition to the expected one in 1960s. In the lake core sediments without glacier meltwater input, the accumulation flux of DDT shows a gradual decline trend after the peak in 1960s. This striking difference in the DDT flux profiles between the two lake cores is most likely caused by the regional climate warming and the resulted discharge of the DDT stored in the Antarctic ice cap into the lakes in the Antarctic glacier frontier. Furthermore, to investigate the change of OCPs loadings in the Antarctic coastal ecosystem, we reconstructed the HCH and DDT concentration profiles in penguin droppings and observed a gradual increase for the former and a continuous decrease for the latter during the past 50 years. The increase of HCH seems to be due to the regional warming from the early 1970s and the resulted HCH discharge to the coastal ecosystem by glaciers＇ meltwater and the illegal use of HCH in the Southern Hemisphere in the recent decade. The different temporal trends of HCH and DDT accumulation rate in the lake core with glacier meltwater input and the aged penguin droppings can be explained by their different water-soluble property.
文摘During CHINARE 15(Dec. 1998 Mar. 1999), a lake core 67.5 cm in length, was sampled in Y2 lake, which is located on the Ardley Island, Antarctica. The concentrations of some chemical elements in Y2 lake sediments were analyzed. According to comparative research on elementary characters of sediments in Antarctic West Lake, fresh penguin dropping as well as guano soil on the Ardley Island and Pacific Island in South China Sea, it presents that the Y2 lake sediments were ameliorated by penguin dropping. The result of element cluster analysis shows that the type elements in the sediment impacted by penguin dropping include Sr,F,S,P,Ca,Se,Cu,Zn and Ba. This can provide a base for further interpreting the climatic and environmental event recorded in the sediment.
文摘An area of protruding feathers found around the beak of many penguin species is thought to induce a turbulent boun~dary layer whilst swimming. Hydrodynamic tests on a model Humboldt penguin, Spheniscus humboldti, suggest that induced turbulence causes a significant reduction in boundary layer height, flow separation, and an average of 31 % reduction in drag (1.0 m/s to 4.5 m/s). Visualisation of surface flow showed it to follow the body profile, over the feet and tail, before separating. Movement of the feet in swimming penguins correlates with steering of the bird. Induced turbulence may therefore further increase swimming efficiency by reducing the amount of foot movement required to direct the swimming bird.
基金supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Project No.40306001)the Foundation for the Author of National Excellent Doctoral Dissertation of China(Grant No.200354)from Ministry of Education of China and Chinese Academy of Sciences+1 种基金support by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Project No.40231002)BSRF project(Project No.SR-03097).
文摘Mercury （Hg） was investigated in bone tissues of skua （ Catharacta maccormick） and penguin （Pygoscelis adeliae） collected in the maritime Antarctic using atomic fluorescence spectrometry （AFS） and synchrotron radiation X-ray fluorescence （SR-XRF） method. The total levels of mercury in bone tissues of penguin and skua are much lower than those in other organs （e. g. , kidney, liver）. The toxic effects of mercury in bone tissues of seabirds in polar region are not known. We have used SR- XRF method to map the distribution of trace levels of mercury in bones. The levels of mercury are found to be enriched somewhere near the periosteal surface and/or endosteal surface. The distribution of mercury shows strongly correlation with that of some essential elements and probably poses negative effect on the bone metabolism inferring from the relationship of mercury with the other elements. These studies represent a first step toward understanding the toxic effects of mercury on bone of polar animals by suggesting the possible microscopic investigation.
基金Supported by the Earmarked Fund for Modern Agro-Industry Technology Research System (CARS-48-07B)Guangdong Provincial Agriculture Key Project (2010B020313005)
文摘Cadmium-metallothionein （Cd-MT） of Pteria penguin was used to immunize domestic rabbit in order to obtain polyclonal antibody against Cd-MT. Using the anti-Cd-MT antibody, a method of indirect non-competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay （non-competitive ELISA） was established to detect shellfish Cd-MT. In this case, the minimum detectable concentration of P. penguin Cd-MT was （4.563±0.051） ng/mL. The linear range of detection was 9.75-2.0×104 ng/mL. Intra-assay relative standard deviation （RSD） was less than 11.6%, and inter-assay RSD less than 6.7%. The recovery rates ranged from 83.7% to 119.0%. The polyclonal antibody against Cd-MT of P. penguin can also be used to detect MT of other four types of shellfish. In the crude extracts from different organs of P. penguin, the MT concentrations determined by this method matched well with the concentrations of cadmium detected by the atomic absorption spectroscopy.
基金grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Project No.40306001) the Foundation for the Author of National Excellent Doctoral Dissertation of P.R.China(Grant No.200354)from Ministry of Education of China and Chinese Academy of Sciences.It was partially support by BSRF(Project No.SR-03097).
文摘Synchrotron radiation X-ray fluorescence （SR-XRF） approach was applied to analyzing of Chinstrap penguin （ Pygoscelis Antarctica） cortical bone. The method enabled the in situ determination of Ca and P concentrations and the Ca/P ratio in cortical bone. The preliminary results show that ： （ 1 ） there is the bone site-related difference for Ca and P concentrations. The mean values for the investigated parameters （ on a dry-weight basis） are： 30.7% （Ca） and 14.9% （P） for the femoral cortical bone, 21.4% （Ca） and 11.5% （P） for wing cortical bone. （2） The variation for the Ca/P ratio in cortical bone is lower than those for Ca and P separately. This is in agreement with the previous report that the specificity of the Ca/P ratio is better than that of Ca and P concentrations and is more reliable for the diagnosis of bone disorders. The authors suggest that further studies be conducted to establish norreal values of Ca, P and Ca/P ratio for polar animals and provide a basis for the diagnosis of bone disorders.
基金supported by project INACH T 1809project FONDECYT 1140466project INACH RG 09-14
文摘In recent decades, polar regions of the planet have witnessed an increase in human presence. Antarctica is considered one of the most pristine regions of the world, but it could be affected by pollution owing to anthropogenic activities, particularly in the Antarctic Peninsula. Human presence can increase the levels of some trace metals in Antarctic environments, an issue that needs to be evaluated. To acquire data of trace metal contamination in the Antarctic Peninsula region, concentrations （dry weight） of Cd, Pb, As, Cu, Hg and Zn in fresh excrement of Ad61ie penguins were determined by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. During the 2012/2013 austral summer, samples were collected from four important nesting sites on the Antarctic Peninsula： Arctowski Base, Kopaitic Island （both sites in the northern Antarctic Peninsula）, Yalour Island and Avian Island （both sites in the southern Antarctic Peninsula）. Data showed that Ad61ie penguin excreta had significantly higher levels （mg.kg~） of As, Cd, Hg, Pb and Cu at Arctowski Base and Kopaitic Island, both sites that have major anthropogenic activities that probably contributed to increased metal levels. The levels of trace metals in Ad61ie penguins were similar to those reported in excreta of Antarctic species in previous studies, and lower than those in excreta of other Antarctic animals. Data suggest that metals ingested by these penguin species that feed in the sea, end up in terrestrial ecosystems.
基金Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos.40730107,41106162)the Chinese Polar Environment Comprehensive Investigation and Assessment Programs(Nos.CHINARE 2014-04-01,CHINARE 2014-02-01,CHINARE 2014-04-04)the Doctoral Fund of Ministry of Education of China(No.20103402110023)
文摘In Antarctica, the marine ecosystem is dynamically interrelated with the terrestrial ecosystem. An example of the link between these two ecosystems is the biogeochemical cycle of phosphorus. Bio- vectors, such as penguins, transport phosphorus from sea to land, play a key role in this cycle. In this paper, we selected three colonies of penguins, the most important seabirds in Antarctica, and computed the annual quantity of phosphorus transferred from sea to land by these birds. Our results show that adult penguins from colonies at Ardley Island, the Vestfold Hills, and Ross Island could transfer phosphorus in the form of guano at up to 12 349, 167 036, and 97 841 kg/a, respectively, over their breeding period. These quantities are equivalent to an annual input of 3.96× 10^9-1.63 × 10^10 kg of seawater to the land of Antarctica. Finally, we discuss the impact of phosphorus on the ice-flee areas of the Antarctica.
文摘All 18 extant species of penguin are strongly countershaded,having dark dorsal and light ventral coloration.In this paper,the thermal effects of this body color in penguins are investigated through analytical and observational analyses.First,a thermal analysis that takes into account the environmental characteristics of penguins’habitats,fluxes,and morphology is used to analytically calculate penguin dorsal surface temperature.Next,a turbulent analytical solution for a heated boundary layer over a flat plate is applied to show that the dark color on the top of the penguins’bodies is very effective at skin drag reduction.To verify this result,a 2D model penguin is computationally analyzed at different temperatures,confirming in principle underwater skin drag reduction through color-based surface warming with efficiency savings of up to 30%.Finally,to study how color-based increases in body surface temperatures are maintained through foraging dives,thermal cameras are used to measure the surface temperature of captive penguins before and after dives.This study shows conceptually that dark dorsal coloration in penguins could have a significant influence on in-water drag.
基金This work was supported by the Deanship of Scientific Research at King Khalid University through the Research Groups Program under Grant Number RGP.1/95/42.
文摘Nowadays,due to the increase in information resources,the number of parameters and complexity of feature vectors increases.Optimizationmethods offermore practical solutions instead of exact solutions for the solution of this problem.The Emperor PenguinOptimizer(EPO)is one of the highest performing meta-heuristic algorithms of recent times that imposed the gathering behavior of emperor penguins.It shows the superiority of its performance over a wide range of optimization problems thanks to its equal chance to each penguin and its fast convergence features.Although traditional EPO overcomes the optimization problems in continuous search space,many problems today shift to the binary search space.Therefore,in this study,using the power of traditional EPO,binary EPO(BEPO)is presented for the effective solution of binary-nature problems.BEPO algorithm uses binary search space instead of searching solutions like conventional EPO algorithm in continuous search space.For this purpose,the sigmoidal functions are preferred in determining the emperor positions.In addition,the boundaries of the search space remain constant by choosing binary operators.BEPO’s performance is evaluated over twenty-nine benchmarking functions.Statistical evaluations are made to reveal the superiority of the BEPO algorithm.In addition,the performance of the BEPO algorithm was evaluated for the binary feature selection problem.The experimental results reveal that the BEPO algorithm outperforms the existing binary meta-heuristic algorithms in both tasks.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grants No.40876104D0611)
文摘During the 2006/07 Antarctic summer,the species population,distribution and reproductive behavior of penguins in areas near the Great Wall Station were investigated.Five species of penguin were recorded：gentoo penguin（Pygoscelis papua）,adelie penguin（P.adeliae）,chinstrap penguin（P.antarctica）, King penguin（Aptenodytes patagonicus） and Emperor penguin（A.forsteri）. The first three species bred locally,while the other two species were observed occasionally.Ardley Island is one of the most important breeding areas for penguins.After the breeding season of 2006/07,there were a total of about 17 234 penguins and the breeding success rate was 0.40—1.41.Comparing with historical data,changes in penguin species populations and distribution were analyzed, and their relationships with the environment,climate change and human activity were investigated.
基金supported by grants fromthe National Natural Science Foundation of China(project nos.40776001 and 40306001)the Foundation for the Author of National Excellent Doctoral Dissertation of China(grant200354)+2 种基金the Ministry of Education of China,and the Chinese Academy of Sciencessupported by the Chinese Arctic and Antarctic AdministrationSRXRF experiment is supported by BSRF
文摘Penguin and skua in the maritime Antarctic have high salt loadings in the body due to almost exclusive diet consumption of marine invertebrates.However,the storage and turnover of sodium and potassium in these animals are poorly investigated.Here we determined the concentration and microscopic distribution of the two elements in the bones of penguin and skua.The average concentrations of sodium and potassium in penguin bone were comparable with that in skua bone（0.18% and 0.82% for penguin bone;0.19% and 0.76% for skua bone in dry weight）.The ratios of sodium to calcium and potassium to calcium（0.0330 and 0.0075 for penguin,0.0335 and 0.0082 for skua in average by weight） were somewhat higher than the reported ratios for terrestrial animals,indicating these marine animals＇ bone enrichment of salt.The ratios of sodium to potassium in average by weight were 6.75 and 4.65 for penguin and skua,respectively.This value is much lower compared with the bulk sea water ratio of about 27.0,implying that potassium is favorable to reside in the bone rather than sodium.Both sodium and potassium were found to significant correlation with the content of organic materials in bone based upon the intensity of native signal determined by electron paramagnetic resonance（EPR）.It was estimated that almost all of potassium is kept within the organic phases,while about 30% of sodium is stored in organic phases and the other 70% within mineral phase.The microscopic distributions of potassium in the cross-section and/or surface were revealed by synchrotron radiation Xray fluorescence（SR-XRF） technique.The ratio of potassium to calcium based upon the SR-XRF intensity counter varied considerably from the surface to the interior,and on the surface the highest concentration of potassium was observed in the middle section with decreasing amounts toward the edge.This indirectly documented that exchange of potassium between fluid and bone organic phase maybe occur.
