Where to live? Landfast sea ice shapes emperor penguin habitat around Antarctica

Predicting species survival in the face of climate change requires
understanding the drivers that influence their distribution. Emperor
penguins (Aptenodytes forsteri) incubate and rear chicks on landfast sea
ice, whose extent, dynamics, and quality are expected to vary
significantly due to climate change. Until recently, this species’
continent-wide observations were scarce, and knowledge on their
distribution and habitat limited. Advances in satellite imagery now allow
their observation and characterization of habitats across Antarctica at
high resolution. Using circumpolar high-resolution satellite images,
unique fast ice metrics, and geographic and biological factors, we
identified diverse penguin habitats across the continent, with no
significant difference between areas with penguins or not. There is a
clear geographic partitioning of colonies with respect to their defining
habitat characteristics, indicating possible behavioral plasticity among
different metapopulations. This coincides with geographic structures found
in previous genetic studies. Given projections of quasi-extinction for
this species in 2100, this study provides essential information for
conservation measures.