Recent assessments of the biodiversity value of Earth's dwindling wilderness areas 1,2 have emphasized the whole of Antarctica as a crucial wilderness in need of urgent protection 3 . Whole-of-continent designations for Antarctic conservation remain controversial, however, because of widespread human impacts and frequently used provisions in Antarctic law for the designation of specially protected areas to conserve wilderness values, species and ecosystems 4,5 . Here we investigate the extent to which Antarctica's wilderness encompasses its biodiversity. We assembled a comprehensive record of human activity on the continent (~ 2.7 million localities) and used it to identify unvisited areas ≥ 10 000 km 2 (1,6-8) (i.e. Antarctica's wilderness areas) and their representation of biodiversity. We show that, at best, 7 770 000 km 2 of wilderness remains, covering 56.9% of the continent's surface area, however it captures few important biodiversity features. Important Bird Areas 9 , ice-free Antarctic Conservation Biogeographic Regions crucial for biodiversity 10,11 , and areas with verified biodiversity records 12 are largely excluded. Our results demonstrate that Antarctica's wilderness Antarctica? Environ. Res. Lett. 5, 041001 (2010).
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