Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
MONITORING BIRDS AND MAMMALS IN
SOUTHERN OCEAN AND ANTARCTICA
Pre l i mi nary Resu l t s And Cha l l enges
Anant Pande*, K Sivakumar and S Sathyakumar
Xth Internal Annual Research Seminar, Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun
2014
LONG-TERM MONITORING OF WILDLIFE AND ITS HABITATS
IN ANTARCTICA -PHASE II
33rd Indian Scientific Expedition to Antarctica (Dec 2013- Apr 2014)
Project Investigators: Dr. K. Sivakumar & Dr. S. Sathyakumar
National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research
Ministry of Earth Sciences
BACKGROUND
BACKGROUND
• Twice the size of Australia – 5th largest continent
• Covered by hard ice – avg. 2000 m thickness
• Coldest…….at - 89.4 ° C
• Windiest….. over 300 km/h
• Highest….. 2500 m avg. elevation
USGS
Austral Summer
• Protected under the Antarctic Treaty of 1959
• No mining in Antarctica, Natural Reserve devoted to Peace and Science
BACKGROUND contd.…….
Google Earth & NSIDC USGS
Austral Summer
BACKGROUND contd.…….
Google Earth & NSIDC
India in Antarctica
• First Indian Expedition in 1981 • 33 expeditions so far
• Two Research stations
MAITRI – 1988 onwards
BHARATI – 2012 onwards
DAKSHIN GANGOTRI- Abandoned in 1988
Winter Sea Ice Extent
USGS
Southern Ocean
• Sub-tropical Zone –
o Agulhas and Benguela currents
• Sub-Antarctic Zone -
o Antarctic Circumpolar Current (Deakens 1984)
• Antarctic Zone - Ice-water interface
Coastal Antarctica o Antarctic Coastal Current
o Marginal Ice Zones (Commins et al 2013)
o High snow drift
Sallee et al 2008
PROCESSES
14th Expedition (1994-95) – S. Sathyakumar
15th Expedition (1995-96) – Y.V. Bhatnagar
16th Expedition (1996-97) – S.A. Hussain & Ajai Saxena
28th Expedition (2008-09) – S. Sathyakumar & K. Sivakumar
29th Expedition (2009-10) – K. Suresh Kumar & J.A. Johnson
WII’s PARTICIPATION in ANTARCTIC EXPEDITIONS
33rd Expedition (2013-14) – Anant Pande
STUDY AREA
STUDY AREA : Southern Ocean* and Coastal Antarctica
PROJECT OBJECTIVES – Phase II
Larsemann Hills India Bay
• Long term monitoring of status and distribution pattern and community structure of pelagic seabirds in Southern ocean and Antarctica
• Evaluate the habitat use of birds and mammals in Antarctica and identify key threat
• Monitor indicator species such as penguins and seals in the Indian sector of operation in Antarctica
METHODS
300 m
• Southern Ocean o Ship-based seabird counts snapshot method
(Tasker et al 1984)
METHODS- Voyage Surveys
o Instant scan of 300 m strip width, 90° from bow
o Daylight hours, good weather days (sea state < 5, visibility > 500 m )
o Marine Mammals counted as and when seen during seabird survey
10 minute
• Coastal Antarctica
o Aerial surveys for seals and penguins, India Bay and Larsemann Hills (Bester et al 2002)
o Straight line surveys from Antarctic coast up to ice-water edge, total counts
METHODS- Aerial Surveys
o Bell-type helicopter, 70-100 m altitude, speed ~ 80 Km/h
o Species, number, age-class (adult or pup), location, distance (approx.), reaction, photograph
o 1000- 1600 hours, good weather ( sunny /partly cloudy), wind < 45 km/h
• Coastal Antarctica
• Island surveys at Larsemann hills for nesting
locations
• On-foot surveys, nest sites’ location, moulting
sites location
• Species (adult/chick/egg), number, activity,
terrain type
South Polar Skua
METHODS contd… Snow Petrel
PRELIMINARY RESULTS
o Two voyages conducted during the expedition
o 45 species of seabirds in 1433 sightings (n= 7133)
o 8 families, one-third species globally threatened (IUCN 2014)
Family # Species # Sightings Counts % Freq. of
Occurrence
D i o m e d e i d a e 8 165 222 3.11
H y d r o b a t i d a e 3 28 38 0.53
L a r i d a e 1 11 47 0.66
P e l e c a n o i d i d a e 1 6 7 0.1
P r o c e l l a r i i d a e 27 1115 6320 88.6
S p h e n i s c i d a e 4 88 456 6.39
S t e r c o r a r i i d a e 3 11 11 0.15
S u l i d a e 1 9 32 0.45
RESULTS - Voyage Surveys
RESULTS – Voyage Surveys contd.
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
35-37
38-40
41-43
44-46
47-49
50-52
53-55
56-58
59-61
62-64
65-67
68-70
3 d
egr
ee
s L
atit
ud
e c
lass
Average Body Weight (Kg)
RESULTS – Voyage Surveys contd.
0
5
10
15
20
25
35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70
Sp
ec
ies
R
ich
ne
ss
L a t i t u d e
Latitudinal Gradient of Species Richness
during Austral Summer
2013-14
RESULTS – Voyage Surveys contd.
0
5
10
15
20
25
35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70
Sp
ec
ies
Ric
hn
es
s
L a t i t u d e
Latitudinal Gradient of Species Richness
during two Austral Summers
2013-14 2013-14
2009-10
RESULTS – Voyage Surveys contd.
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70
Bir
d
Co
un
t
Latitudinal Gradient of bird counts
during two Austral Summers
L a t i t u d e
2013-14
2009-10
RESULTS – Voyage Surveys contd.
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70
Bir
d
Co
un
t
Latitudinal Gradient of bird counts during Austral Summer
2013-14
L a t i t u d e
RESULTS – Voyage Surveys contd.
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70
Bir
d C
ou
nts
Latitudinal gradient in bird counts –within season
EARLY SUMMERS (Dec-Jan)
L a t i t u d e
RESULTS – Voyage Surveys contd.
Latitudinal gradient in bird counts- within season
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70
Bir
d c
ou
nts
LATE SUMMERS (Feb-Mar)
L a t i t u d e
BIRD COUNT DISTRIBUTION ACROSS STUDY AREA (2013-14)
RESULTS – Voyage Surveys contd.
RESULTS – Voyage Surveys cont.
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70
Bir
d c
ou
nt
Cephalopods
Fish
Mixed
Plankton
Latitudinal gradient in bird counts based on food type in 2013-14
L a t i t u d e
RESULTS – Voyage Surveys cont.
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70
Bir
d c
ou
nt
Cephalopods
Fish
Mixed
Plankton
Latitudinal gradient in bird counts based on food type in 2009-10
L a t i t u d e
• Marine Mammals
o 15 species of marine mammals seen during the two voyages
o Sightings dominated by Humpback whale (> 50%) and Sperm whale
o Two species of dolphins: Killer whale and Long-finned Pilot Whale
Antarctic Minke Whale
RESULTS – Voyage Surveys cont.
RESULTS – Aerial surveys contd.. Seal and Penguin Distribution
Crabeater
Weddell Seal Adelie Penguin
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
Sp
ecie
s co
un
t
Species
India Bay
Larsemann Hills
RESULTS – Aerial surveys contd.
RESULTS
• Island Surveys
o 13 islands at Larsemann Hills surveyed
o Five species of birds found nesting in 12
islands
Wilson’s Storm Petrel
South Polar Skua
Snow Petrel
Adelie Penguin Emperor Penguin
CHALLENGES/LIMITATIONS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
• National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research
• Director and Dean, Wildlife Institute of India
• Faculty and Staff, WII
ONE-THIRD OF ALL SEABIRDS ARE GLOBALLY THREATENED
Thank You
