Southern elephant seals are adaptable—but they struggle when faced with both rapid climate change and human impacts

Southern elephant seal (Mirunga Leonina) is a prestigious species of the southern Ocean. But with rapid environmental changes in their ocean house, the population limit of seal is changing.

Once spread to the vast areas of the southern hemisphere, these top predators are facing challenges from both climate change and human activities.

Our New research Examinations ancient and modern DNA, archaeological records and ecological data.

It explains how these large marine mammals have customized – and sometimes have failed to adapt such pressures since the height of the last snow thousands of years ago.

A dynamic evolutionary history

Today, the largest southern elephant seal population is found on the Sabntarctic islands including South Georgia, McCweri Island And Falkland Island. They act as global strongholds for colonized species.

Yet in the past, until a few hundred years ago, there were many small population in the Victoria Land Coast. Antarctica And close to the temperate regions on the mainland Australia and New Zealand.

Our study focuses on the Australian dynasty of the southern elephant seal, drawing on samples of these ancient colonies. By analyzing their genetic makeup, we combined a timeline of their biological heritage including population expansion and contraction.

This is an important implication to understand the flexibility of elephant seal in front of climate change.

With genetic clues in subfosils and archaeological remains, a few thousands of years old, we got evidence of frequent population cycles. Extension of sea ice during cold glacial periods forces seals to the north side, only for them to retreat during hot interglassels in the form of sea ice to resume the southern ocean.

This history was particularly dynamic after a height of the last ice age 21,000 years ago. The planet then started getting hot, causing dramatic ecological innings.

Elephant seals are likely to expand with snow-free refugees in temperate regions such as Tasmania and New Zealand on the newly available Sabnatartic and Antarctic coast.

However, this limit extension was not permanent. As the current hot interglassial (Holocin) moved forward, new challenges arose: Indigenous huntingAnd later, extensive European industrial sealing.

For indigenous communities in New Zealand and Australia, elephant seals were a part of their diet.

We know that from the seal it is the residue in the midnce (nonsense dump) and the material culture, including the necklaces made of elephant seal teeth, which have been found in the early Maori archaeological sites.

Archaeological remains from coastal sites New Zealand And Tasmania indicates significant hunting and dependence on the seal by the indigenous population. With human-managed environmental changes, it caused local extinction.

Effects of humans and climate change

Genetically, the seals from these ancient Australian and Antarctic colonies were separate but related. He formed a unique dynasty in the Pacific region consisting of the McCwee island. It is likely to have genetic diversity that resulted in a duration of isolation in different refuges at the height of the last ice age.

However, with modern climate change and human exploitation, most of this genetic diversity is lost. In Antarctica, the colonies that have flourished once on the Victoria Land Coast have now become extinct.

Meanwhile, the McCweri island is home to an important breeding colony facing its challenges. Antarctic sea snow changes are increasing the distance between the breeding ground on the island and the foodground in the sea. This has affected the stability of the colony in recent decades.

One of the most striking results of our research is how these large, long -living animals can respond to environmental pressures. By expanding its limits in response to new houses and when the conditions became unsuitable, sealing to a shifting climate by retreating back.

However, this ability to move and adapt, when encountered by rapid climate change and double pressures of human exploitation, was limited, which significantly reduced their number and genetic diversity in a short period.

Can the southern ocean ecosystem optimize?

As the human-powered climate change continues, the southern Ocean is expected to heat up. This will cause further residence for species that depend on sea ice and are affected by changes in the availability of prey.

The history of elephant seals provides a window on how marine mammals can respond to these changes. But it also serves as a warning: human impact, combined with environmental pressures, can sometimes cause irreversible decline.

Our research underlines the genetic diversity of the southern elephant seal and the importance of conservation of houses. These seals are not only a will for adaptability in the changing world; They remind me of the vulnerability of even the most flexible species.

It would be important to protect the remaining strongholds and reduce human effects on the basis of your food sources and reproduction if we expect to avoid further contractions in their population.

The story of the southern elephant seal is one of existence, adaptation and loss. As we face our own climate challenges, we should consider the underlying texts in their genetic and ecological history.

It is a reminder that nature is often suitable for changing and can weather the dangers of some ecosystems, even the most adaptable species beyond the point of human-operated impact recovery.

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