Ecosystem Functioning

Long-term Impacts of Human Disturbance on Breeding Adélie Penguins

Principle Investigator: Joe Waas
Organisation: Waikato University

What we do: Sub-colonies of penguins at Cape Bird will be exposed to one of four experimental treatments, representing different levels of human disturbance (i.e. high, moderate, low and no disturbance), to measure affects on key long-term reproductive parameters (e.g. hatching success, fledging success, timing of breeding). Changes in reproductive and stress hormones will also be mapped to identify underlying mechanisms that might explain treatment differences. In addition, we will assess, for the first time in penguins, a non-invasive method of tracking stress and changes in reproductive state using enzyme immunoassays of faecal samples, by using the technique in conjunction with traditional blood sampling methods.

Why we do it: Little is known of the long-term consequences of human disturbance on breeding Adélie penguins, despite sharp increases in recreational and research visits to colonies.

What we hope to find out:  Ultimately, our work will allow us to estimate the degree of human disturbance that is acceptable within colonies, and provide managers with new non-invasive tools (e.g. faecal sampling) to monitor the influences that human visits have on Adélie penguins.

Recent Publications:
Nakagawa, S. Möstl, E. Waas, J.R. Validation of an enzyme immunoassay to measure faecal glucocorticoid metabolites from Adelie penguins (Pygoscelis adeliae): a non-invasive tool for estimating stress? Polar Biology 26: 491-493, 2003.