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Penguin population dynamics for the past 8500 years at Gardner Island, Vestfold Hills

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 August 2009

Tao Huang ,
Liguang Sun ,
Yuhong Wang ,
Xiaodong Liu  and
Renbin Zhu
Tao Huang
Affiliation:
Institute of Polar Environment, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, P.R. China
Liguang Sun*
Affiliation:
Institute of Polar Environment, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, P.R. China
Yuhong Wang
Affiliation:
Institute of Polar Environment, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, P.R. China National Institute of Health, MD 20892, USA
Xiaodong Liu
Affiliation:
Institute of Polar Environment, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, P.R. China
Renbin Zhu
Affiliation:
Institute of Polar Environment, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, P.R. China
*
*[email protected]
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Abstract

In order to reconstruct past changes in penguin populations we performed geochemical analyses on a penguin ornithogenic sediment core DG4 retrieved from a lake catchment on Gardner Island, Vestfold Hills. P, Se, F, S, As, Sr and Cu in DG4 were identified as the bio-element assemblage by R-clustering analyses on the elemental concentrations and comparisons with those in bedrock and fresh penguin guano. Factor analysis on the levels of these bio-elements in the core permitted a reconstruction of variations in historical penguin populations at Gardner Island spanning the past 8500 years. The penguin population showed significant fluctuations, reaching its highest density between 4700–2400 calibrated years before present. This coincides with evidence for a late Holocene warm period in the Vestfold Hills, similar to that associated with the late Holocene penguin optimum recorded in the Ross Sea and Antarctic Peninsula regions.

Keywords

Antarctic climatebio-elementguanolate Holocenepenguin optimumsedimentation rate
Type
Biological Sciences
Information
Antarctic Science , Volume 21 , Issue 6 , December 2009 , pp. 571 - 578
Copyright
Copyright © Antarctic Science Ltd 2009

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