Grémillet D., Welcker J., Karnovsky N.J., Walkusz W., Hall M.E., Fort J., Brown Z.W., Speakman J.R., Harding A.M.A.
Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive, UMR5175, CNRS-INEE, 1919 route de Mende, 34293 Montpellier Cedex 5, France; Percy FitzPatrick Institute, DST/NRF Centre of Excellence, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch 7701, South Africa; Norwegian Polar Institute, Fram Centre, 9296 Tromsø, Norway; Pomona College, Department of Biology, 175 W. Sixth Street, Claremont, CA 91771, United States; Institute of Oceanology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Powsta ców Warszawy 55, 81-712 Sopot, Poland; Freshwater Institute, Fisheries and Oceans, 501 University Crescent, Winnipeg, MB R3T 2N6, Canada; BirdWatch Ireland, Unit 20 Block D, Bullford Business Campus, Kilcoole, Co. Wicklow, Ireland; Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Frederiksborgvej 399, 4000 Roskilde, Denmark; School of Biological Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Tillydrone Avenue, Aberdeen AB24 2TZ, United Kingdom; Alaska Pacific University, Environmental Science Department, 4101 University Drive, Anchorage, AK 99508, United States
Grémillet, D., Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive, UMR5175, CNRS-INEE, 1919 route de Mende, 34293 Montpellier Cedex 5, France, Percy FitzPatrick Institute, DST/NRF Centre of Excellence, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch 7701, South Africa; Welcker, J., Norwegian Polar Institute, Fram Centre, 9296 Tromsø, Norway; Karnovsky, N.J., Pomona College, Department of Biology, 175 W. Sixth Street, Claremont, CA 91771, United States; Walkusz, W., Institute of Oceanology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Powsta ców Warszawy 55, 81-712 Sopot, Poland, Freshwater Institute, Fisheries and Oceans, 501 University Crescent, Winnipeg, MB R3T 2N6, Canada; Hall, M.E., BirdWatch Ireland, Unit 20 Block D, Bullford Business Campus, Kilcoole, Co. Wicklow, Ireland; Fort, J., Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Frederiksborgvej 399, 4000 Roskilde, Denmark; Brown, Z.W., Pomona College, Department of Biology, 175 W. Sixth Street, Claremont, CA 91771, United States; Speakman, J.R., School of Biological Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Tillydrone Avenue, Aberdeen AB24 2TZ, United Kingdom; Harding, A.M.A., Alaska Pacific University, Environmental Science Department, 4101 University Drive, Anchorage, AK 99508, United States
Climate models predict a multi-degree warming of the North Atlantic in the 21st century. A research priority is to understand the effect of such changes upon marine organisms. With 40 to 80 million individuals, planktivorous little auks Alle alle are an essential component of pelagic food webs in this region that is potentially highly susceptible to climatic effects. Using an integrative study of their behaviour, physiology and fitness at 3 study sites, we evaluated the effect of ocean warming on little auks across the Greenland Sea in 2005 to 2007. Contrary to our hypothesis, the birds responded to a wide range of sea surface temperatures via plasticity of their foraging behaviour, allowing them to maintain their fitness levels. Predicted effects of climate change are significantly attenuated by such plasticity, confounding attempts to forecast future effects of climate change using envelope models. © Inter-Research 2012.