Contents of POLISH POLAR RESEARCH VOL. 24 No. 2
Marek KEJNA
Trends of air temperature of the Antarctic during the period 1958–2000 99
Andrzej K. GĘBCZYŃSKI
The food demand in the nest of Wilson’s storm petrel 127
Marcela M. LIBERTELLI, Nestor CORIA and Germán MARATEO
Diet of the Adélie penguin during three consecutive chick rearing periods at Laurie Island 133
Alejandro R. CARLINI, Sebastián POLJAK, Ricardo CASAUX, Gustavo A. DANERI and Miguel GASCO
Southern elephant seals breeding at Nelson Island, South Shetland Islands 143
Wojciech WALKUSZ, Katharina STOREMARK, Torunn SKAU, Charlotte GANNEFORS and Marte
LUNDBERG
Zooplankton community structure; a comparison of fjords, open water and ice stations in the Svalbard area 149
Meertinus P.D. MEIJERING
The long-lasting resistence of diapausing eggs from Arctic Cladocera frozen at –18°C 167
POLISH POLAR RESEARCH VOL. 24 No. 2, pp. 99–126
Marek KEJNA
Trends of air temperature of the Antarctic during the period 1958–2000
Zakład Klimatologii, Instytut Geografii, Uniwersytet Mikołaja Kopernika, ul. Danielewskiego 6, 87-100 Toruń,
POLAND; < makej@geo.uni.torun.pl>
ABSTRACT: The paper presents the trends of air temperature of the Antarctic. In its elaboration 21 stations
were taken into consideration carrying out temperature measurements in the years 1958–2000, and 34 stations in
the years 1981–2000. After checking the homogeneity of the series by the Alexandersson’s (1986) test we found
that at 16 stations the homogeneity has been broken. On the basis of the corrected measurement series we have
determined the trends in air temperature. In the period 1958–2000 statistically significant (on 0.95 significance
level) temperature increases occurred on the western coast of the Antarctic Peninsula (for example Faraday
0.67°C/10 years) and at the Belgrano and McMurdo stations. The greatest temperature rise was noted on the
Antarctic Peninsula during the autumn-winter period. On the South Pole a negative trend in air temperature (–
0.21°C) occurred, especially in the summer season. During recent years (1981–2000) significant changes took
place in the air temperature tendencies in the Antarctic. In many regions of the Antarctic cooling began and on
the cost of East Antarctica the temperature decreased by –0.82°C/10 years (Casey). In the interior of the
continent also lower and lower temperatures occurred (Amundsen-Scott –0.42°C/10 years, Dome C –0.71°C/10
years). The coast of the Weddell Sea is getting colder (Halley –1.13°C/10 years, Larsen Ice –0.89°C/10 years).
An increase in temperature was observed in the interior of West Antarctica (Byrd 0.37°C/10 years). The
warming rate of the climate became weaker on the Antarctic Peninsula (Faraday 0.56°C/10 years). The largest
temperature changes occurred in the autumn-winter season when in the Antarctic Peninsula region the
temperature increased, while in the interior and at the coast of East Antarctica temperatures fell considerably.
Key words: Antarctica, trends in air temperature.
POLISH POLAR RESEARCH VOL. 24 No. 2, pp. 127–131
Andrzej K. GĘBCZYŃSKI
The food demand in the nest of Wilson’s storm petrel
Instytut Biologii, Uniwersytet w Białymstoku, ul. Świerkowa 20B, P.O.Box 109, 15-950 Białystok, Poland;
<andgebcz@cksr.ac.bialystok.pl>
ABSTRACT: Energy delivered to the nests of Wilson’s storm petrel, Oceanites oceanicus (Kuhl, 1820), was
evaluated by measurement of the oxygen consumption of brooding adult birds and nestlings of different ages.
During the brooding period adult birds have to deliver more than 180 kJ per visit to the nest vs. less than 170 kJ
during the rest of the nesting period. It seems likely that the parental ability to deliver large quantities of food per
visit affects the duration of the brooding period and therefore also affects growth rates of Wilson’s storm petrel
chicks and the duration of their nesting period.
Key words: Antarctic, birds, Wilson’s storm petrel.
POLISH POLAR RESEARCH VOL. 24 No. 2, pp. 133–142
Marcela M. LIBERTELLI1, Nestor CORIA1 and Germán MARATEO2
Diet of the Adélie penguin during three consecutive chick rearing periods at Laurie Island
1 Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas, Instituto Antártico Argentino, Cerrito 1248, (C1010AAZ) Buenos
Aires, Argentina; <aguara 35@hotmail.com>
2 División Zoología Vertebrados, Sección Ornitología, Museo de Ciencias Naturales, Paseo del Bosque s/n1,
(1900) La Plata, Argentina
ABSTRACT: The diet of the unsexed breeding Adélie penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae Hombron et Jacquinot, 1841)
was investigated during three consecutive chick rearing periods, from 1996–97 to 1998–99, on Laurie Island,
South Orkney Islands (60°46’S, 44°42’W), Antarctica. This analysis showed that during the whole sampling
period, Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba Dana, 1852) represented the predominant prey in terms of frequency
of occurrence, mass, and number. The hyperiid amphipod Themisto gaudichaudii (Guerin-Méneville, 1825) was
present in small amounts. Electrona antarctica (Gunter, 1878), Trematomus newnesi (Boulenger, 1902) and
larval stages of Nototheniidae constituted the bulk of the fish portion, particularly during the 1997/98 and
1998/99 breeding periods. This study is the first examination of the Adélie penguin diet at Laurie Island. It is
important to recognize, however, the importance of knowing the sex of the penguins being sampled and that prey
composition may vary during the breeding season and from one year to the next.
Key words: Antarctic, South Orkney Islands, Adélie penguin, diet.
POLISH POLAR RESEARCH VOL. 24 No. 2, pp. 143–147
Alejandro R. CARLINI1, Sebastián POLJAK2, Ricardo CASAUX1, Gustavo Adolfo DANERI3 and Miguel
GASCO4
Southern elephant seals breeding at Nelson Island, South Shetland Islands
1 Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas, Instituto Antártico Argentino, Cerrito 1248, (1010) Buenos Aires,
Argentina; <acarlini@dna.gov.ar>
2 Departamento de Anatomía Comparada, Facultad de Cs. Naturales, Paseo del Bosque S/N, (1900) La Plata,
Argentina
3 Departamento de Mamíferos, Museo Argentino de Cs. Naturales “B. Rivadavia”, Av. Angel Gallardo 470,
(1045) Buenos Aires, Argentina
4 Consejo Provincial de Educación, Calle Newbery, 111 Bariloche, Río Negro, Argentina
ABSTRACT: A population survey of southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina Linnaeus, 1758) was conducted
at Nelson Island, South Shetland Islands, Antarctica, during the 2001 breeding season. Two breeding sites were
identified, one of which had not been previously reported. The largest breeding site was located at Duthoit Point,
with a total of 128 females, 111 pups and 7 weanlings distributed in 6 harems along 3 km of coast. The new
breeding group was observed at Harmony Point, where 3 females with their pups were found. This is the first
report on southern elephant seal numbers during the breeding period for the Nelson Island coast.
Key words: Antarctic, South Shetland Islands, southern elephant seal, Mirounga leonina, pinnipeds.
POLISH POLAR RESEARCH VOL. 24 No. 2, pp. 149–165
Wojciech WALKUSZ1, Katharina STOREMARK2, Torunn SKAU3, Charlotte GANNEFORS4 and Marte
LUNDBERG4
Zooplankton community structure; a comparison of fjords, open water and ice stations in the Svalbard
area
1 Instytut Oceanologii, Polska Akademia Nauk, ul. Powstańców Warszawy 55, 81-712 Sopot, Poland;
<walwo@iopan.gda.pl>
2 The University Centre on Svalbard, P.O.Box 156, N-9171 Longyearbyen, Norway
3 University of Bergen, Deptartment of Fisheries and Marine Biology. P.O.Box 7800, N-5020 Bergen, Norway
4 Norwegian Polar Institute, The Environmental Centre, N-9296 Tromsr, Norway
ABSTRACT: The zooplankton community structure was studied in the Svalbard area at three shelf stations:
Billefjorden, Kongsfjorden and Hinlopen (Spitsbergen shelf area), and at two open water stations: Ice West and
Ice East (north of Spitsbergen, in the Arctic Ocean). Two different plankton nets – WP-2 and WP-3 – were used
to collect a size range of zooplankton. The Bray-Curtis similarity analysis showed differences between sampling
stations based on total zooplankton abundance, species composition, and comparison of Calanus spp.
development. Total abundance was the highest in Kongsfjorden and Hinlopen. The small omnivorous copepod
Oithona similis Claus, 1863 was the dominating species at all localities and the Atlantic copepod Calanus
finmarchicus (Gunnerus, 1765) was found at all stations. Calanus spp. development was delayed at the ice
stations when compared to the shelf stations. Results are discussed in relation to differences in environmental
factors among stations.
Key words: Arctic, Svalbard, zooplankton, Calanus, fjords.
POLISH POLAR RESEARCH VOL. 24 No. 2, pp. 167–172
Meertinus P.D. MEIJERING
The long-lasting resistence of diapausing eggs from Arctic Cladocera frozen at –18°C
Universität Kassel (retired). Lärchengarten 13, D-36110 Schlitz, Germany
ABSTRACT: Mud samples from two lakes in West Greenland were kept frozen at –18°C for 18 years. When
they were thawed, 4 Cladocera species hatched from diapausing eggs: Daphnia pulex (De Geer, 1778),
Macrothrix hirsuticornis (Norman et Brady, 1867) and Chydorus arcticus (Rřen, 1987), which are by far the
most abundant Cladocera species in the high Arctic north of 74°N. Another species was Alona quadrangularis
(O. F. Müller, 1785), which occurs up to 72°N. All these species gave rise to parthenogenetic offspring and
produced ephippia within a time frame comparable to an Arctic summer season. Up to 9 other Cladocera species
were likely to be present in the original populations, but did not hatch anymore after 12 years.
Key words: Arctic, Cladocera, diapausing eggs.