Individual consistency and phenotypic plasticity in rockhopper penguins: female but not male body mass links environmental conditions to reproductive investment

In marine habitats, increasing ocean temperatures due to global climate change may distinctly reduce nutrient and consequently food availability for seabirds. Food availability is a known driver of body mass and reproductive investment in birds, but these traits may also depend on individual effects. Penguins show extreme intra-annual body mass variation and rely on accumulated body reserves for successful breeding. However, no study so far has tested individual consistency and phenotypic responses in body mass and reproductive investment in this taxon. Using a unique dataset on individually marked female and male southern rockhopper penguins (Eudyptes chrysocome chrysocome) across six years, we investigated 1) the individual consistency in body mass (measured at egg laying), body condition and reproductive investment across years, subsequently 2) identified the best-explanatory temperature-related environmental variables for female and male body mass, and 3) tested the effect of female...在海洋生境中，全球气候变化引发的海洋温度上升，可能会显著降低海鸟可获取的营养物质，进而减少其食物供应量。食物供应量是影响鸟类体重与繁殖投入的公认驱动因素，但这些性状同时也可能受个体差异的影响。企鹅的体重年内波动幅度极大，且成功繁殖依赖于体内积累的体脂储备。然而迄今为止，尚无针对该分类群的体重与繁殖投入的个体一致性及表型响应的相关研究。本研究依托一项覆盖六年、针对个体标记的南跳岩企鹅（Eudyptes chrysocome chrysocome）雌雄个体的独特数据集，开展了三项研究内容：1）分析产卵期体重、身体状况及繁殖投入的年度间个体一致性；2）明确对雌雄体重最具解释力的温度相关环境变量；3）检验雌性……