New Zealand Journal of Zoology abstracts

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Z00017
Received and accepted 17 July 2000

Climate fluctuation effects on breeding of blue penguins (Eudyptula minor)

LYNDON PERRIMAN

Department of Conservation
P.O. Box 5244, Moray Place
Dunedin, New Zealand

DAVE HOUSTON

Department of Conservation
P.O. Box 388
Oamaru, New Zealand

HARALD STEEN
EDDA JOHANNESEN

Department of Zoology
University of Otago
P.O. Box 56
Dunedin, New Zealand

Abstract  El Niño and La Niña climate perturbations alter sea currents and food availability for seabirds in many areas of the world. This changes their breeding success and mortality. Blue penguin (Eudyptula minor) breeding success is dependent upon whether one or two clutches per season are laid, and the hatching and fledging success of these clutches. This study uses six years of data from five blue penguin breeding colonies, three from Taiaroa Head, Otago Peninsula and two from Oamaru, to examine whether annual variation in breeding success correlates with El Niño/La Niña perturbations. When La Niña conditions prevailed, penguins started breeding later, and there was a lower proportion of double breeders than in El Niño and normal years. The probability of a newly hatched chick surviving to fledging was also dependent on whether large-scale climatic conditions prevailed, whereas hatching success and overall breeding success (number of fledged chicks per breeding pair) showed no correlation with climate perturbations.

Keywords  blue penguin; Eudyptula minor; El Niño; Southern Oscillation Index; climate fluctuations; breeding success

New Zealand Journal of Zoology, 2000, Vol. 27: 269-275

0301-4223/00/2704-0269 $7.00/0   (c) The Royal Society of New Zealand 2000

PDF file of entire paper: medium quality (985K); (scanned from paper original: notes about this process)

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