Animals; Humans; Antarctic Regions; Biodiversity; Introduced Species; Climate Change; Ecosystem; Conservation of Natural Resources; Agricultural and Biological Sciences (all)
Abstract :
[en] Antarctic terrestrial biodiversity faces multiple threats, from invasive species to climate change. Yet no large-scale assessments of threat management strategies exist. Applying a structured participatory approach, we demonstrate that existing conservation efforts are insufficient in a changing world, estimating that 65% (at best 37%, at worst 97%) of native terrestrial taxa and land-associated seabirds are likely to decline by 2100 under current trajectories. Emperor penguins are identified as the most vulnerable taxon, followed by other seabirds and dry soil nematodes. We find that implementing 10 key threat management strategies in parallel, at an estimated present-day equivalent annual cost of US$23 million, could benefit up to 84% of Antarctic taxa. Climate change is identified as the most pervasive threat to Antarctic biodiversity and influencing global policy to effectively limit climate change is the most beneficial conservation strategy. However, minimising impacts of human activities and improved planning and management of new infrastructure projects are cost-effective and will help to minimise regional threats. Simultaneous global and regional efforts are critical to secure Antarctic biodiversity for future generations.
Lee, Jasmine R ; School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia ; CSIRO, Dutton Park, Queensland, Australia ; School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia ; British Antarctic Survey, NERC, High Cross, Cambridge, United Kingdom
Terauds, Aleks ; Australian Antarctic Division, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, Kingston, Tasmania, Australia
Carwardine, Josie ; CSIRO, Dutton Park, Queensland, Australia
Shaw, Justine D; School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia ; Australian Antarctic Division, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, Kingston, Tasmania, Australia
Fuller, Richard A ; School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Possingham, Hugh P; School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia ; The Nature Conservancy, Arlington, Virginia, United States of America
Chown, Steven L ; Securing Antarctica's Environmental Future, School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Convey, Peter ; British Antarctic Survey, NERC, High Cross, Cambridge, United Kingdom ; Department of Zoology, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa
Gilbert, Neil ; Constantia Consulting, Christchurch, New Zealand
Hughes, Kevin A ; British Antarctic Survey, NERC, High Cross, Cambridge, United Kingdom
McIvor, Ewan ; Australian Antarctic Division, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, Kingston, Tasmania, Australia
Robinson, Sharon A ; Centre for Sustainable Ecosystem Solutions, School of Earth, Atmosphere and Life Sciences and Global Challenges Program, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia ; Securing Antarctica's Environmental Future, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia
Ropert-Coudert, Yan ; Centre d'Etudes Biologiques de Chizé, La Rochelle Université - CNRS, UMR 7372, Villiers en Bois, France
Bergstrom, Dana M ; Australian Antarctic Division, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, Kingston, Tasmania, Australia ; Department of Zoology, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa ; Centre for Sustainable Ecosystem Solutions, School of Earth, Atmosphere and Life Sciences and Global Challenges Program, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia
Biersma, Elisabeth M ; British Antarctic Survey, NERC, High Cross, Cambridge, United Kingdom ; Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
Christian, Claire; Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition, Washington DC, United States of America
Cowan, Don A ; Centre for Microbial Ecology and Genomics, Department of Biochemistry, Genetics and Microbiology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
Frenot, Yves ; University of Rennes 1, CNRS, EcoBio (Ecosystèmes, biodiversité, évolution)-UMR 6553, Rennes, France
Jenouvrier, Stéphanie ; Biology Department, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, United States of America
Kelley, Lisa ; International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO), South Kingstown, Rhode Island, United States of America
Lee, Michael J; Reel Time Gaming, Taringa, Queensland, Australia
Lynch, Heather J; Department of Ecology and Evolution, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York, United States of America
Njåstad, Birgit ; Norwegian Polar Institute, Fram Centre, Tromsø, Norway
Quesada, Antonio ; Department of Biology, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
Roura, Ricardo M ; Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition, Washington DC, United States of America
Shaw, E Ashley; Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon, United States of America
Stanwell-Smith, Damon; International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO), South Kingstown, Rhode Island, United States of America ; Viking Expeditions, Basel, Switzerland
Tsujimoto, Megumu ; Faculty of Environment and Information Studies, Keio University, Fujisawa, Kanagawa Japan ; National Institute of Polar Research, Tachikawa, Tokyo, Japan
Wall, Diana H; Department of Biology and School of Global Environmental Sustainability, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, United States of America
Wilmotte, Annick ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département des sciences de la vie > Physiologie et génétique bactériennes
Chadès, Iadine ; CSIRO, Dutton Park, Queensland, Australia
SCAR Workshop Priority Threat Management; Australian Antarctic Science Program; Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship
Funders :
SCAR - Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research [GB] Holsworth Wildlife Research Endowment [AU] Australian Government [AU] Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 [GB] BAS - British Antarctic Survey [GB] NERC - Natural Environment Research Council [GB] Carlsbergfondet [DK] F.R.S.-FNRS - Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique [BE] BELSPO - Politique scientifique fédérale [BE] NSF - National Science Foundation [US-VA] [US-VA] AEI - Agencia Estatal de Investigación [ES]
Funding number :
CDR J.0152.18; BR/165/A1/MICROBIAN
Funding text :
his project was supported by the
Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research
(SCAR), who provided support for the meeting,
and by the Australian Antarctic Science Program
(projects 4296, 4297 and Integrated Digital East
Antarctica - IDEA). J.L. was supported by the
Holsworth Wildlife Research Endowment – Equity
Trustees Charitable Foundation, an Australian
Government Research Training Program
Scholarship, and a Research Fellowship from The
Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851. P.C.,
K.H. and E.B. are supported by NERC core funding
to the British Antarctic Survey ‘Biodiversity,
Evolution and Adaptation’ Team (P.C., E.B.) and
Environment Office (K.H.). E.B. was also supported
by a NERC-CONICYT grant NE/P003079/1 and
Carlsberg Foundation grant CF18-0267. A.W. is a
Senior Research Associate of the FRS-FNRS and
supported by the CDR J.0152.18 and BelSPO
project BR/165/A1/MICROBIAN. S.J. was
supported by NSF OPP 1840058 and 1744794. A.
Q. was funded by Agencia Estatal de Investigacio ́n
(Ministry of Science and Innovation) through the
grant CTM2016-79741-R. The funders had no role
in study design, data collection and analysis,
decision to publish, or preparation of the
manuscript.
It is a contribution to the Integrated Science to Inform Antarctic and Southern Ocean Conservation (Ant-ICON) Scientific Research Programme of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR).
