一項最新研究顯示,，在企鵝翅膀上套鋼圈來進(jìn)行標(biāo)識的傳統(tǒng)手段會影響企鵝生存，由此得出的科研結(jié)論可能也存在問題,。
新一期英國《自然》雜志刊登報告說,，法國斯特拉斯堡大學(xué)等機構(gòu)研究人員對南極附近海洋中一個小島上的企鵝進(jìn)行了為期10年的跟蹤研究,。結(jié)果顯示,，翅膀上套了鋼圈的企鵝與沒套鋼圈的企鵝相比,，10年后的存活率要低16%，繁衍出來的后代的數(shù)量要低39%,。
研究人員認(rèn)為,，企鵝翅膀上套了鋼圈后，在海中游泳時需要耗費更多體力,，與其他企鵝相比覓食時需要的時間更長,，這不僅影響了它們自身的存活率，還使得其后代獲取的食物與其他小企鵝相比更少,，其繁衍后代的能力也相應(yīng)減弱,。
領(lǐng)導(dǎo)研究的伊馮·勒·馬霍說，人們應(yīng)該考慮使用更先進(jìn)的技術(shù)來標(biāo)識企鵝,，如在本次研究中,，他們使用了皮下植入的芯片來標(biāo)識用于對比研究的企鵝。
據(jù)介紹,，通過在翅膀上套鋼圈來標(biāo)識企鵝是科學(xué)界的傳統(tǒng)做法,，已有超過30年的歷史。過去曾有研究認(rèn)為這可能會影響企鵝生存,，但也有一些研究稱翅膀上套個鋼圈沒有大的影響,。本次研究持續(xù)10年，是這方面持續(xù)時間最長最深入的研究,，其結(jié)果可能會導(dǎo)致今后企鵝研究中標(biāo)識手段的大規(guī)模改變,。（生物谷Bioon.com）
生物谷推薦原文出處：
Nature doi:10.1038/nature09630
Reliability of flipper-banded penguins as indicators of climate change
Claire Saraux,Céline Le Bohec,Jo?l M. Durant,Vincent A. Viblanc,Michel Gauthier-Clerc,David Beaune,Young-Hyang Park,Nigel G. Yoccoz,Nils C. Stenseth& Yvon Le Maho
In 2007, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change highlighted an urgent need to assess the responses of marine ecosystems to climate change1. Because they lie in a high-latitude region, the Southern Ocean ecosystems are expected to be strongly affected by global warming. Using top predators of this highly productive ocean2 (such as penguins) as integrative indicators may help us assess the impacts of climate change on marine ecosystems3, 4. Yet most available information on penguin population dynamics is based on the controversial use of flipper banding. Although some reports have found the effects of flipper bands to be deleterious5, 6, 7, 8, some short-term (one-year) studies have concluded otherwise9, 10, 11, resulting in the continuation of extensive banding schemes and the use of data sets thus collected to predict climate impact on natural populations12, 13. Here we show that banding of free-ranging king penguins (Aptenodytes patagonicus) impairs both survival and reproduction, ultimately affecting population growth rate. Over the course of a 10-year longitudinal study, banded birds produced 39% fewer chicks and had a survival rate 16% lower than non-banded birds, demonstrating a massive long-term impact of banding and thus refuting the assumption that birds will ultimately adapt to being banded6, 12. Indeed, banded birds still arrived later for breeding at the study site and had longer foraging trips even after 10?years. One of our major findings is that responses of flipper-banded penguins to climate variability (that is, changes in sea surface temperature and in the Southern Oscillation index) differ from those of non-banded birds. We show that only long-term investigations may allow an evaluation of the impact of flipper bands and that every major life-history trait can be affected, calling into question the banding schemes still going on. In addition, our understanding of the effects of climate change on marine ecosystems based on flipper-band data should be reconsidered.
