As bio-indicators, seabirds across the globe help us understand how our environment is changing, and how this is affecting our wildlife. Little Penguins (Eudyptula minor) in Australia are a key species in understanding the changes to the Australian environment. However, studies generally focus on the effects of oceanic changes without always accounting for the potential interactions with the environmental conditions experienced on land during breeding. This study examined the relationships between both marine and terrestrial environmental variables and breeding success in South Australian Little Penguins, observing 10 colonies over a nonconsecutive 28-yr time period. Our results showed that South Australian Little Penguins had a lower breeding success (fewer fledglings produced per pair) when sea surface temperatures were higher in the 3 mo before breeding and when high winds occurred during the breeding season. We also observed local variation between the colonies: breeding success was only influenced by environmental variables for colonies located near open waters and not for colonies located in enclosed bays. These results confirm the idea that future oceanographic warming is expected to reduce the breeding success (and population size) of some Australian seabirds, including Little Penguins.

中文翻译：

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南澳大利亚小企鹅的繁殖成功与高风速和海面温度呈负相关

作为生物指标，世界各地的海鸟帮助我们了解我们的环境正在如何变化，以及这如何影响我们的野生动物。澳大利亚的小企鹅（Eudyptula minor）是了解澳大利亚环境变化的关键物种。然而，研究通常侧重于海洋变化的影响，而不总是考虑繁殖期间与陆地环境条件的潜在相互作用。这项研究检查了海洋和陆地环境变量与南澳大利亚小企鹅繁殖成功之间的关系，在不连续的 28 年时间段内观察了 10 个殖民地。我们的研究结果表明，当繁殖前 3 个月的海面温度较高以及繁殖季节发生大风时，南澳大利亚小企鹅的繁殖成功率较低（每对产生的雏鸟较少）。我们还观察了殖民地之间的局部差异：繁殖成功仅受位于开阔水域附近的殖民地的环境变量的影响，而不受位于封闭海湾的殖民地的影响。这些结果证实了这样一种观点，即未来的海洋变暖预计会降低包括小企鹅在内的一些澳大利亚海鸟的繁殖成功率（和种群规模）。繁殖成功仅受位于开阔水域附近的群落的环境变量影响，而不受位于封闭海湾的群落的影响。这些结果证实了这样一种观点，即未来的海洋变暖预计会降低包括小企鹅在内的一些澳大利亚海鸟的繁殖成功率（和种群规模）。繁殖成功仅受位于开阔水域附近的群落的环境变量影响，而不受位于封闭海湾的群落的影响。这些结果证实了这样一种观点，即未来的海洋变暖预计会降低包括小企鹅在内的一些澳大利亚海鸟的繁殖成功率（和种群规模）。