Antarctica’s Protected Areas Are Inadequate, Unrepresentative, and at Risk

Shaw, Justine; Terauds, Aleks; Riddle, Martin J.; Possingham, Hugh P.; Chown, Steven Loudon

doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1001888

Cited by 105 publications

(125 citation statements)

References 31 publications

(41 reference statements)

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“…Many of the targets could, however, be applied to the Antarctic (Box 2). Of these, only performance against Target 11, concerning protected areas, has been explicitly assessed 92 . Just 1.5% of the continent's ice-free area is formally designated as specifically protected, and five of its 15 ecoregions have no protection.…”

Section: Environmental Protection (Cep) and The Convention On The Conmentioning

confidence: 99%

The changing form of Antarctic biodiversity

Chown

Clarke

Fraser

et al. 2015

Nature

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275

219

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Antarctic biodiversity is much more extensive, ecologically diverse and biogeographically structured than previously thought. Understanding of how this diversity is distributed in marine and terrestrial systems, the mechanisms underlying its spatial variation, and the significance of the microbiota is growing rapidly. Broadly recognizable drivers of diversity variation include energy availability and historical refugia. The impacts of local human activities and global environmental change nonetheless pose challenges to current and future understanding of Antarctic biodiversity. Life in the Antarctic and the Southern Ocean is surprisingly rich, and as much at risk from environmental change as it is elsewhere.The past two decades have witnessed a revolution in the approaches used to document patterns in and the functional significance of the diversity of life. Knowledge of the global distributions of organisms now extends to many groups. These include terrestrial plants and animals 1 , marine taxa 2 , components of the soil biota 3 , and, increasingly, microorganisms 4 .2 Empirical and theoretical research is verifying the range of mechanisms, including energy and nutrient availability, and historical contingency, that are responsible for these patterns 1,2 , and the role of diversity in maintaining ecosystem services. New approaches are also revealing rapid changes in diversity across most ecosystems, their often negative implications for the future of the planet, and our struggle to address the problem 5 .In tandem, biodiversity research has surged across the Antarctic and Southern Ocean.In part the increasing interest has been driven by the realization that any fundamental quest to understand life's diversity requires exploration of the polar regions 6,7 . But it has also been underpinned by a growing appreciation of the particular challenges faced by Antarctic species and ecosystems. Climate change 8 , and economic activity in the form of fishing, tourism, and scientific research itself 9,10 are all having impacts on Antarctic diversity. The intricacy of Southern Ocean food webs, best known for the region's iconic seals, penguins, whales and albatrosses, has been further unveiled, so highlighting the complexity of the simultaneous impacts of changing climates, sea ice distribution and fisheries on this system 11,12 . New marine research has also exposed unexpectedly high benthic diversity, including in the deep sea 13,14 . In terrestrial areas, the diversity of higher plants and animals is relatively low (e.g., just two flowering plant species), but the diversity of lichens, bryophytes, invertebrates, and the microbiota is substantial 15 . Local and regional spatial patterning in these groups is extensive 16 , with the mechanisms underlying these patterns both recognizable from broader ecological theory and unusual in several respects.Here we explore recent advances in our understanding of the biodiversity of the Antarctic. Given the many conservation challenges it faces, we also consider how well the region i...

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Section: Environmental Protection (Cep) and The Convention On The Conmentioning

confidence: 99%

The changing form of Antarctic biodiversity

Chown

Clarke

Fraser

et al. 2015

Nature

Self Cite

275

219

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“…For example, there is increasing evidence that tourists and scientists visiting Antarctica have been a source of invasive species, and climate change may open up a window for an accelerated rate of biological invasions (Frenot et al, 2005;Aronson et al, 2007;Shaw et al, 2014). These studies have mainly focused on terrestrial species that may be transported in the form of spores and pollen on clothing, but marine alien species may have gone undetected.…”

Section: Governance and Long-term Sustainabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Using the Ocean Health Index to Identify Opportunities and Challenges to Improving Southern Ocean Ecosystem Health

et al. 2017

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“…We urge the Antarctic Treaty and its Committee for Environmental Protection to expand use of scientific evidence in its decision-making and to apply state-of-theart conservation measures judged on measurable outcomes 7 .…”

Section: Work Togethermentioning

confidence: 99%