Research Agenda

Welcome to my Research Agenda page! On this page you will find the most important sources that I have found during my research process.

Scicomm Article Research Studies

Choi, Noori, et al. “Group Association and Vocal Behaviour during Foraging Trips in Gentoo Penguins.” Scientific Reports, vol. 7, no. 1, Nature Portfolio, Aug. 2017, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-07900-7. Accessed 6 May 2024.

‌This article, “Group Association and Vocal Behaviour during Foraging Trips in Gentoo Penguins,” was mainly written by Noori Choi, a researcher at the Korea Polar Research Institute in Biological Sciences, published in August 2017 by the Scientific Reports. To conduct this experiment, they attached a camera and 2 depth-acceleration recorders to 26 adult gentoo penguins during the chick-rearing period in 2 breeding seasons on King George Island in the South Shetland Islands. The final data was conclusive for 10 of the 26 penguins which showed that the group foraging behavior might be strengthened by their vocal communication however, the data did have its limitations so this idea was not fully grounded. This article details the importance of understanding group dynamics between penguins which might explain the evolutionary significance of this behavior. This article is similar to the other 2 in the focus of the study, the vocal behavior of penguins. Although this article gave a different context to this vocal behavior, specifically in foraging behavior, the main idea was the same in that it is important to understand the penguin's behavior through an evolutionary perspective.

Favaro, Livio, et al. “The Vocal Repertoire of the African Penguin (Spheniscus Demersus): Structure and Function of Calls.” PloS One, vol. 9, no. 7, Public Library of Science, July 2014, pp. e103460–60, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0103460. Accessed 6 May 2024.

Livio Favaro, an ethologist with a focus on the evolution of animal behavior, published this article, “The Vocal Repertoire of the African Penguin (Spehniscus Demersus): Structure and Function of Calls,” on July 30th, 2014 by PLOS ONE. To conduct this experiment and provide a detailed description of penguins' vocal behavior, a captive colony of 48 African penguins was recorded using a camera that had a microphone in it at ZOOM Torino, Italy who were housed in an outdoor communal exhibit. By analyzing over 271 audio recordings, the researchers were able to identify 6 different calls by their context, length, and sound which were the contact call, agonistic call, ecstatic display song, mutual display song, begging moan, and begging peep. This research study aims to establish the type of vocal behavior of free-living penguins which helps us understand the animal behavior more. Although this study is conducted on a different species when compared to the foundational article, this article explains the vocal behavior between penguins and how that communication helps strengthen the colony. This study was also cited as a reference in the foundational article as evidence of the vocal behavior between penguins and to serve as a limitation of research on vocal behavior during foraging trips as this study was conducted on shore.

Takahashi, A., et al. “Penguin–Mounted Cameras Glimpse Underwater Group Behaviour.” Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences, vol. 271, no. suppl_5, Aug. 2004, https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2004.0182.

Akinori Takahashi, a researcher at the National Institute of Polar Research, published the article, “Penguin-Mounted Cameras Glimpse Underwater Group Behaviour,” on August 7, 2004, by the Royal Society. To conduct this study, cameras were attached to 5 Adelie penguins and 5 chinstrap penguins during one foraging trip during the chick-rearing period at Signy Island, South Atlantic, Antarctica. From these cameras, 11162 pictures were recovered showing that during their dives, 24% of the time they were closely accompanied by another penguin, often swimming in the same direction and being less than 2 meters apart. This study aimed to provide new insights into the group dynamics of penguins while being in the ocean with new technology and to address the gap of the lack of information there is during foraging trips. The author of this article was cited in the foundational article and this article was found by looking at other published works under Takahashi. This study helps support the idea in the foundational article that the coordinated behavior of the penguins was not related to foraging and the group behavior might be related to something else instead.

Defining the Problem

Gimeno, Míriam, et al. “Climate and Human Stressors on Global Penguin Hotspots: Current Assessments for Future Conservation.” Global Change Biology, vol. 30, no. 1, 1 Jan. 2024, onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/gcb.17143, https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.17143. Accessed 27 Apr. 2024.

Mirian Gimeno, researcher of biology evolution at the Institut de Ciencies del Mar in Barcelona, Spain, published an article, “Climate and Human Stressors on Global Penguin Hotspots: Current Assessments for Future Conservation,” on January 18, 2024. To examine the different stressors on popular penguin spots, they did an in-depth review of long-term spacial trends in chlorophyll concentration, sea surface temperature, sea ice concentration, and fishing activity in identified penguin hotspots for different penguin species. From the collected data, they found that the most common stressors for penguins were fishing efforts and increasing sea surface temperatures and African penguins were facing the most changes. Because of their study, they were able to identify a spatial distribution of widespread stressors that are affecting the 18 penguin species in the world ultimately laying the foundation for guiding conservation efforts and ensuring the protection of penguins for future generations. When comparing this article to the other two, this study is the most recent, published in 2024 and because of that often references the other two authors, Trathan and Forcada, throughout the article. The main takeaway from this article and the focus is the same as the other two, to understand the different climate change stressors on penguins in order to better conservation efforts for penguins.

‌Trathan, Phil N, et al. “Pollution, Habitat Loss, Fishing, and Climate Change as Critical Threats to Penguins.” Conservation Biology, vol. 29, no. 1, 7 Aug. 2014, pp. 31–41, conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/cobi.12349, https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.12349. Accessed 13 May 2024.

Phil N. Trathan, a fellow at the British Antarctic Survey with a focus on biology, ecology, and management of marine ecosystems, published an article, “Pollution, Habitat Loss, Fishing, and Climate Change as Critical Threats to Penguins,” on August 7, 2014. To examine these critical threats, they did a comprehensive literature review of a previous study of the 18 penguin species and developed a scale for three different categories of risks on how great of a factor they had on the penguin population. From their assessment, they concluded that habitat degradation, pollution, and fisheries were the biggest threats that faced penguins as they affected their food accessibility and breeding cycles. All of these threats that face penguins, can lead back to climate change which in the long run, humankind can mitigate to help penguin populations endure. Although this study was less recent when compared to Gimeno’s article, they came to the same conclusion, that climate change continues to remain a huge risk for penguins and it has only gotten worse for the animal species which calls for action to help mitigate some of these human-driven stressors. Other works published by Trathan were often mentioned in Gimeno's 2024 article as a foundation for the continuing research of the effects of climate change on penguins as our world continues to deteriorate.

Jaume Forcada, and Philip N Trathan. “Penguin Responses to Climate Change in the Southern Ocean.” Global Change Biology, vol. 15, no. 7, 1 July 2009, pp. 1618–1630, onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2009.01909.x, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2009.01909.x. Accessed 27 Apr. 2024.

Jaume Forcada, marine mammal expert and population biologist at the British Antarctic Survey, published an article, “Penguin Responses to Climate Change in the Southern Ocean,” on June 5, 2009. To examine penguin responses to climate change, they examined current population trends and data referring to different climate change stressors such as rising sea temperatures. From their examination of current data and patterns, they found that the most common responses from penguins were dispersal instead of adaptation since microevolution for penguins is a slow process, and because of the rapidly changing climate, it does not seem possible. They show the importance of understanding the penguin life cycle in response to rapid climate change in order to predict what will happen in the future if nothing changes. Although Forcada might not call to conservation actions directly, this article is similar to the rest of the articles in that it shows how vulnerable and impacted penguins are due to climate change and this is becoming a big issue for the penguin population. Forcada’s collaborator in the publication of this article was Trathan who was the author of the second article annotated and this article was often referenced in Gimeno’s article as a foundational study.

Advocating Solutions

Protecting the World’s Penguins a Brief From. 2014, www.pewtrusts.org/~/media/legacy/uploadedfiles/peg/publications/fact_sheet/penguinoverviewfinalfactsheet.pdf.

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The Pew Charitable Trust, a non-profit organization that serves public interest by improving public policy, wrote a quick article called, "Protecting the World's Penguins," in April 2014. From their article, they name that the biggest threat facing penguins today is climate change and has resulted in the decline of many penguin populations. In order to help penguin populations, they found that marine reserves, improving fishery management, and effective habitat mangament are the best ways to help them. It is not too late to reverse the effects of climate change and helping the penguin populations is one step towards building greater resilience in the face of a changing planet. Compared to the other two articles used for the solutions, this one is the oldest one. However, this article still came to the same conclusion, that marine protected areas would greatly benefit penguins facing climate change from helping them become more resilient and managing fisheries that kill off penguins main source of food.

“How a New Network of Marine Protected Areas Would Help Penguins.” BirdLife International, 18 Jan. 2021, www.birdlife.org/news/2021/01/18/how-a-new-network-of-marine-protected-areas-would-help-penguins/. Accessed 30 May 2024.

Bird Life International, made up of many non-governmental organizations that strive to conserve birds and their habitats, wrote an article, "How a new network of Marine Protected Areas would help penguins," on January 18, 2021. In a study led by Bird Life International, researchers identified key sites for penguins where marine protected areas would be most effective by using satellite and drone imagery to follow penguins and their preferred areas. From their collected data, the evidence would help support proposed MPA and guide future locations as well. By implementing these marine protected areas, it would improve habitat quality by at least 49-100% and would help protect penguin populations from the fast changing world. Compared to the other two article, this is the second most recent article. This article is important and connects to the other two as it names marines protected areas as a good solution for penguins as it tackles climate change resilience and food assurance.

Novenario, Celine. “Protecting Wildlife in a Changing Climate: Four Powerful Adaptation Strategies - Global Center on Adaptation.” Global Center on Adaptation, Global Center on Adaptation, 3 Mar. 2023, gca.org/protecting-wildlife-in-a-changing-climate-four-powerful-adaptation-strategies/. Accessed 28 May 2024.

Gabriela Díaz Musmanni, environmental and human rights advocate, wrote an article with the Global Center on Adaptation called, "Protecting Wildlife in a Changing Climate: Four Powerful Adaptation Strategies," on March, 3, 2023. From the Living Planet Report of 2022, they found that the world's mammal, bird, fish, reptile, and amphibian populations have declined by 70% in light of climate change. Due to this dramatic decline, researchers have found four methods of climate adaptation that could help protect and support wildlife; creation and support of marine protected areas, using nature-based solutions, water managaement, and community engagement and locally led adaptation. It is important to help wildlife fight against climate change as a lot of wildlife play crucial roles in our biodiversity and regulating the climate. Although this article does not focus on penguins specifically and instead wildlife as a whole, it shows that marine protected areas are a great solution to protect from cliamte change. This source also serves to connect a solution to a grassroots solution by sharing that MPA's generally lack funding and resources that can be helped with the use of social media.