Antarctic penguins are advancing their breeding season by up to 24 days due to rapid warming, with Gentoo penguins adapting fastest, new research shows.
PARIS: Penguins are advancing their breeding season at unprecedented rates as Antarctica warms rapidly due to climate change.
A new study published on Tuesday found the shift in breeding patterns over a decade was “highly correlated” with rising temperatures on the frozen continent.
Lead author Ignacio Juarez Martinez said penguin breeding is closely tied to food availability, with less sea ice making hunting and nesting sites accessible earlier.
Scientists were “very surprised both by the scale and the speed of the advance”, Martinez told AFP.
“The scale is so great that penguins in most areas are now breeding earlier than in any historical records,” said the University of Oxford scientist.
Researchers used time-lapse cameras to observe Gentoo, Chinstrap and Adelie penguin colonies across Antarctica between 2012 and 2022.
Gentoo penguins showed the greatest change, advancing their breeding season by 13 days on average and up to 24 days in some colonies.
This represents the fastest change in breeding season observed in any bird, and possibly any vertebrate, to date.
Adelie and Chinstrap penguins also brought their breeding season forward by an average of 10 days.
The findings were published in the Journal of Animal Ecology.
Antarctica is one of the world’s fastest-warming regions, with annual average temperatures hitting record highs last year.
The three species traditionally staggered their breeding, but earlier timing is now causing overlap and increased competition.
This benefits Gentoos, which are suited to milder conditions, more than Chinstrap and Adelie penguins.
“We have already seen Gentoos take nests that were previously occupied by Adelies or Chinstraps,” said Martinez.
Gentoo populations are expanding in a milder Antarctica, while Chinstrap and Adelie numbers decline due to krill dependence.
Co-author Fiona Jones said the results have implications for species globally, as penguins are a “bellwether of climate change”.
Martinez said it remains “too early to tell” if this adaptation is beneficial or a forced change affecting breeding success.
Researchers are now studying the species’ ability to raise chicks to determine if they are successfully adapting.