The potential costs of flipper-bands to penguins
Date
2002
Authors
Jackson S.
Wilson R.P.
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Abstract
1. The published literature on the effects of flipper-bands on penguin ecology is reviewed. Six published studies show the following. 2. In Adélie Penguins Pygoscelis adeliae, flipper-bands directly damaged flippers, increased swimming costs by 24%, decreased survival in the first year after banding by 28%, and may have accelerated decline of a dwindling colony by 3%. 3. Adult return rates to colonies among flipper-banded Adélie, Chinstrap P. antarctica and Gentoo P. papua Penguins decreased by 8%, 12% and 25%, respectively, between single-and double-banded penguins. Juvenile return rates among Gentoo Penguins were reduced by 10.5%. Return rates to the colony among double-banded King Penguins Aptenodytes patagonicus were 31.3% and 6.7% lower than among single-banded birds in the first and second years after banding, respectively, and single flipper-banded birds showed annual survival rates 21.1% lower than those of birds fitted with subcutaneous transponders. 4. Among Royal Penguins Eudyptes schlegeli, there were no differences between chick growth, adult over-winter survival and fledging success between flipper-banded birds and birds fitted with transponders. 5. Adélie Penguin adult annual survival rates were lower among flipper-banded birds than among unbanded birds. 6. On the basis of dive profiles for Adélie Penguins, it is estimated that increased swimming costs of 5% reduce prey contact time by 10%, and of 24% reduce prey contact time by 48%. These estimated 'knock-on' or cumulative costs coupled with the survival and breeding costs shown by the majority of published field studies suggest that data collected on some flipper-banded populations are biased. 7. The advantages and disadvantages of an alternative long-term marking technique, subcutaneously implanted passively interrogated transponder tags, are discussed. Research projects currently testing transponders and flipper-bands worldwide are listed.
Description
Keywords
energetics, seabird, survival, tagging, Aptenodytes, Aptenodytes patagonicus, Aves, Eudyptes, Eudyptes schlegeli, Gallus gallus, Pygoscelis adeliae, Pygoscelis antarctica, Pygoscelis papua, Spheniscidae, Vertebrata
Citation
Functional Ecology
16
1
16
1