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Not so free range? Oviposition microhabitat and egg clustering affects Eretmoptera murphyi (Diptera: Chironomidae) reproductive success

1 February, 2019 by Peter Convey

Understanding the physiology of non-native species in Antarctica is key to elucidating their ability to colonise an area, and how they may respond to changes in climate. Eretmoptera murphyi is…

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Niche partitioning of sympatric penguins by leapfrog foraging is resilient to climate change

1 February, 2019 by Harriet Clewlow, Norman Ratcliffe

1.Interspecific competition can drive niche partitioning along multidimensional axes, including allochrony. Competitor matching will arise where the phenology of sympatric species with similar ecological requirements respond to climate change at…

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Surveys reveal increasing and globally important populations of south polar skuas and Antarctic shags in Ryder Bay (Antarctic Peninsula)

1 February, 2019 by Ali Massey, Janet Silk, Kevin Hughes, Richard Phillips

Despite their importance in ecosystems, population sizes and trends are unknown for many seabirds, including in the Antarctic. Here we report on the first comprehensive survey of south polar skuas…

Read more on Surveys reveal increasing and globally important populations of south polar skuas and Antarctic shags in Ryder Bay (Antarctic Peninsula)

Physiological life history strategies of photobionts of lichen species from Antarctic and moderate European habitats in response to stressful conditions

1 February, 2019 by Peter Convey

The vegetation of many terrestrial habitats across Antarctica is dominated by poikilohydric symbiotic lichens. Terrestrial habitats generally are characterised by extended exposure to desiccation and high irradiation. Physiological adaptation mechanisms…

Read more on Physiological life history strategies of photobionts of lichen species from Antarctic and moderate European habitats in response to stressful conditions

Tectonic strain recorded by magnetic fabrics (AMS) in plutons, including Mt Kinabalu, Borneo: A tool to explore past tectonic regimes and syn-magmatic deformation

1 February, 2019 by Alex Burton-Johnson, Tom Jordan

Tectonic strain commonly overprints magmatic fabrics in AMS (Anisotropy of Magnetic Susceptibility) data for plutonic rocks produced by both compressional and extensional regimes. Mt Kinabalu, Borneo, is a composite pluton…

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Molecular mechanisms underpinning transgenerational plasticity in the green sea urchin Psammechinus miliaris

30 January, 2019 by Alessandro Cavallo, Lloyd Peck, Michael Thorne, Melody Clark

The pre-conditioning of adult marine invertebrates to altered conditions, such as low pH, can significantly impact offspring outcomes, a process which is often referred to as transgenerational plasticity (TGP). This…

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Diurnal cycle of coastal anthropogenic pollutant transport over southern West Africa during the DACCIWA campaign

14 January, 2019

During the monsoon season, pollutants emitted by large coastal cities and biomass burning plumes originating from Central Africa have complex transport pathways over Southern West Africa (SWA). The Dynamics–Aerosol–Chemistry–Cloud–Interactions in…

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Respiration rates and active carbon flux of mesopelagic fishes (Family Myctophidae) in the Scotia Sea, Southern Ocean

7 January, 2019 by Anna Belcher, Geraint Tarling, Ryan Saunders

Mesopelagic fish have recently been highlighted as an important, but poorly studied component of marine ecosystems, particularly regarding their role in the marine pelagic food webs and biogeochemical cycles. Myctophids…

Read more on Respiration rates and active carbon flux of mesopelagic fishes (Family Myctophidae) in the Scotia Sea, Southern Ocean

A long-term study of gentoo penguin (Pygoscelis papua) population trends at a major Antarctic tourist site, Goudier Island, Port Lockroy

1 January, 2019 by Claire Waluda, Jennifer Jackson, Jaume Forcada, Michael Dunn, Philip Trathan

Gentoo penguins Pygoscelis papua breed at a number of sites at the West Antarctic Peninsula, including Goudier Island, Port Lockroy—the longest studied location for tourist-penguin interactions in the Antarctic. These…

Read more on A long-term study of gentoo penguin (Pygoscelis papua) population trends at a major Antarctic tourist site, Goudier Island, Port Lockroy

Using habitat models to identify marine important bird and biodiversity areas for Chinstrap Penguins Pygoscelis antarcticus in the South Orkney Islands

1 January, 2019 by Harriet Clewlow, Norman Ratcliffe, Philip Trathan, Victoria Warwick-Evans

Tracking individual marine predators can provide vital information to aid the identification of important activity (foraging, commuting, rafting, resting, etc.) hotspots and therefore also to delineate priority sites for conservation.…

Read more on Using habitat models to identify marine important bird and biodiversity areas for Chinstrap Penguins Pygoscelis antarcticus in the South Orkney Islands

Divergent foraging strategies during incubation of an unusually wide-ranging seabird, the Murphy’s petrel

1 January, 2019 by Richard Phillips, Thomas Clay, Thomas Clay

Divergent foraging strategies may emerge within a population due to a combination of physiological and environmental factors; yet to persist, neither strategy should offer a consistent selective advantage over the…

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Contrasting hydrological controls on bed properties during the acceleration of Pine Island Glacier, West Antarctica

1 January, 2019 by Alex Brisbourne, Andy Smith, David Vaughan

In the Amundsen sector of West Antarctica, the flow of glaciers accelerates when intrusion of warm ocean water onto the continental shelf induces strong melting beneath ice shelves and thinning…

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Physical conditions of fast glacier flow: 3. Seasonally-evolving ice deformation on Store Glacier, West Greenland

1 January, 2019 by Keith Nicholls, Tun Jan Young

Temporal variations in ice sheet flow directly impact the internal structure within ice sheets through englacial deformation. Large‐scale changes in the vertical stratigraphy within ice sheets have been previously conducted…

Read more on Physical conditions of fast glacier flow: 3. Seasonally-evolving ice deformation on Store Glacier, West Greenland

Experimental validation of in silico predicted RAD locus frequencies using genomic resources and short read data from a model marine mammal

1 January, 2019 by Jaume Forcada

Background Restriction site-associated DNA sequencing (RADseq) has revolutionized the study of wild organisms by allowing cost-effective genotyping of thousands of loci. However, for species lacking reference genomes, it can be…

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Constraining recent ice flow history at Korff Ice Rise, West Antarctica, using radar and seismic measurements of ice fabric

1 January, 2019 by Alex Brisbourne, Andy Smith, Carlos Martin Garcia

The crystal orientation fabric of ice reflects its flow history, information which is required to better constrain projections of future ice sheet behavior. Here we present a novel combination of…

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The development of a space climatology: 2. The distribution of power input into the magnetosphere on a 3‐hourly timescale

1 January, 2019 by Mervyn Freeman

Paper 1 in this series (Lockwood et al., 2018a, https://doi.org/10.1029/2018SW001856) showed that the power input into the magnetosphere Pα is an ideal coupling function for predicting geomagnetic “range” indices that…

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Current logistical capacity is sufficient to deliver the implementation and management of a representative Antarctic protected area system

5 December, 2018 by Kevin Hughes, Susie Grant

Antarctica’s terrestrial ecosystems are vulnerable to impacts resulting from climate change and local human activities. The Antarctic Treaty System (ATS) provides for the designation of protected areas through the Protocol…

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Characterisation of Pseudanabaena amphigranulata (Synechococcales) isolated from a man-made pond, Malaysia: A polyphasic approach

1 December, 2018 by Peter Convey

A filamentous benthic cyanobacteria strain isolated from a tropical man-made pond in Malaysia was characterised using combined phenotypic and genetic approaches. Morphological and ultrastructural observations were performed together with growth…

Read more on Characterisation of Pseudanabaena amphigranulata (Synechococcales) isolated from a man-made pond, Malaysia: A polyphasic approach

Persistent Organic Pollutants in two species of migratory birds from Rothera Point, Adelaide Island, Antarctica

1 December, 2018 by Lloyd Peck

Carcasses of South Polar Skuas (Catharacta maccormicki) and Kelp gulls (Larus dominicanus) were opportunistically collected around of Rothera Research station (67°35′8″S and 68°7′59″W) during the 2016/2017 austral summer. Samples of…

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Holocene fire activity during low-natural flammability periods reveals scale-dependent cultural human-fire relationships in Europe

1 December, 2018 by Kira Rehfeld

Fire is a natural component of global biogeochemical cycles and closely related to changes in human land use. Whereas climate-fuel relationships seem to drive both global and subcontinental fire regimes,…

Read more on Holocene fire activity during low-natural flammability periods reveals scale-dependent cultural human-fire relationships in Europe

Supraglacial debris thickness variability: impact on ablation and relation to terrain properties

29 November, 2018 by Michael McCarthy, Hamish Pritchard, Michael McCarthy

Shallow ground-penetrating radar (GPR) surveys are used to characterize the small-scale spatial variability of supraglacial debris thickness on a Himalayan glacier. Debris thickness varies widely over short spatial scales. Comparison…

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Seasonal prey switching in non-breeding gentoo penguins related to a wintertime environmental anomaly around South Georgia

16 November, 2018 by Geraint Tarling, Norman Ratcliffe, Philip Trathan

Information is needed on how anomalous environmental conditions affect important Antarctic ecological sentinels during the winter. Using a non-invasive method (scats), the diet of non-breeding gentoo penguins Pygoscelis papua at…

Read more on Seasonal prey switching in non-breeding gentoo penguins related to a wintertime environmental anomaly around South Georgia

Simulating the 128 ka Antarctic climate response to Northern Hemisphere ice sheet melting using the isotope-enabled HadCM3

16 November, 2018 by Louise Sime, Max Holloway

Warmer than present Antarctic and Southern Ocean temperatures during the last interglacial, approximately 128,000 years ago, have been attributed to changes in north‐south ocean heat transport, causing opposing hemispheric temperature…

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Threatened species drive the strength of the carbonate pump in the northern Scotia Sea

2 November, 2018 by Clara Manno, Geraint Tarling, Gabriele Stowasser, Peter Enderlein, Sophie Fielding

The efficiency of deep-ocean CO2 sequestration is regulated by the relative balance between inorganic and organic carbon export respectively acting through the biological carbon pump (BCP) and the carbonate counter…

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IMF-driven change to the Antarctic tropospheric temperature due to the global atmospheric electric circuit

1 November, 2018 by Gareth Chisham, Mai Mai Lam, Mervyn Freeman

We use National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP)/National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) reanalysis data to investigate the Antarctic mean tropospheric temperature anomaly associated with changes in the dawn-dusk component…

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Minimising the limitations of using dietary analysis to assess foodweb changes by combining multiple techniques

1 November, 2018 by Catharine Horswill, Jennifer Jackson, Philip Trathan

Dietary studies of marine predators offer an immediate signal of foodweb changes occurring at lower trophic levels, and therefore are often used to assess the ecosystem status of marine systems.…

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Temporal changes in abundances of large calanoid copepods in the Scotia Sea: comparing the 1930s with contemporary times

1 November, 2018 by Geraint Tarling, Peter Ward, Sally Thorpe

To investigate whether impacts of reported climate change in the Antarctic marine environment have affected mesozooplankton populations, we compared the summertime abundances of four species of large calanoid copepods from…

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Habitat use of adult male South American fur seals and a preliminary assessment of spatial overlap with trawl fisheries in the South Atlantic

1 November, 2018 by Iain Staniland

Little is known about the movement ecology of male South American fur seals (SAFS; Arctocephalus australis). To begin to address knowledge gaps we used satellite telemetry to track four adult…

Read more on Habitat use of adult male South American fur seals and a preliminary assessment of spatial overlap with trawl fisheries in the South Atlantic