Emmerson Louise M.

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Emmerson
First Name
Louise M.
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  • Article
    Happy feet in a hostile world? The future of penguins depends on proactive management of current and expected threats.
    (Frontiers Media, 2019-05-28) Ropert-Coudert, Yan ; Chiaradia, André ; Ainley, David G. ; Barbosa, Andres ; Boersma, P. Dee ; Brasso, Rebecka ; Dewar, Meagan ; Ellenberg, Ursula ; García-Borboroglu, Pablo ; Emmerson, Louise M. ; Hickcox, Rachel ; Jenouvrier, Stephanie ; Kato, Akiko ; McIntosh, Rebecca Ruth ; Lewis, Phoebe ; Ramírez, Francisco ; Ruoppolo, Valeria ; Ryan, Peter G. ; Seddon, Philip J. ; Sherley, Richard Brain ; Vanstreels, Ralph E. T. ; Waller, Lauren J. ; Woehler, Eric ; Trathan, Phil N.
    Penguins face a wide range of threats. Most observed population changes have been negative and have happened over the last 60 years. Today, populations of 11 penguin species are decreasing. Here we present a review that synthesizes details of threats faced by the world’s 18 species of penguins. We discuss alterations to their environment at both breeding sites on land and at sea where they forage. The major drivers of change appear to be climate, and food web alterations by marine fisheries. In addition, we also consider other critical and/or emerging threats, namely human disturbance near nesting sites, pollution due to oil, plastics and chemicals such as mercury and persistent organic compounds. Finally, we assess the importance of emerging pathogens and diseases on the health of penguins. We suggest that in the context of climate change, habitat degradation, introduced exotic species and resource competition with fisheries, successful conservation outcomes will require new and unprecedented levels of science and advocacy. Successful conservation stories of penguin species across their geographical range have occurred where there has been concerted effort across local, national and international boundaries to implement effective conservation planning.
  • Article
    Circumpolar analysis of the Adélie Penguin reveals the importance of environmental variability in phenological mismatch
    (John Wiley & Sons, 2017-03-20) Youngflesh, Casey ; Jenouvrier, Stephanie ; Li, Yun ; Ji, Rubio ; Ainley, David G. ; Ballard, Grant ; Barbraud, Christophe ; Delord, Karine ; Dugger, Katie M. ; Emmerson, Louise M. ; Fraser, William R. ; Hinke, Jefferson T. ; Lyver, Philip O'B. ; Olmastroni, Silvia ; Southwell, Colin J. ; Trivelpiece, Susan G. ; Trivelpiece, Wayne Z. ; Lynch, Heather J.
    Evidence of climate-change-driven shifts in plant and animal phenology have raised concerns that certain trophic interactions may be increasingly mismatched in time, resulting in declines in reproductive success. Given the constraints imposed by extreme seasonality at high latitudes and the rapid shifts in phenology seen in the Arctic, we would also expect Antarctic species to be highly vulnerable to climate-change-driven phenological mismatches with their environment. However, few studies have assessed the impacts of phenological change in Antarctica. Using the largest database of phytoplankton phenology, sea-ice phenology, and Adélie Penguin breeding phenology and breeding success assembled to date, we find that, while a temporal match between Penguin breeding phenology and optimal environmental conditions sets an upper limit on breeding success, only a weak relationship to the mean exists. Despite previous work suggesting that divergent trends in Adélie Penguin breeding phenology are apparent across the Antarctic continent, we find no such trends. Furthermore, we find no trend in the magnitude of phenological mismatch, suggesting that mismatch is driven by interannual variability in environmental conditions rather than climate-change-driven trends, as observed in other systems. We propose several criteria necessary for a species to experience a strong climate-change-driven phenological mismatch, of which several may be violated by this system.