Tracking of marine predators to protect Southern ocean ecosystems
Hindell, Mark A.; Reisinger, Ryan Rudolf; Ropert-Coudert, Yan; Huckstadt, Luis A.; Trathan, Philip N.; Bornemann, Horst; Charrassin, Jean-Benoit; Chown, Steven L.; Costa, Daniel P.; Danis, Bruno; Lea, Mary-Anne; Thompson, David; Torres, Leigh G.; Van de Putte, Anton P.; Alderman, Rachael; Andrews-Goff, Virginia; Arthur, Ben; Ballard, Grant; Bengtson, John; Bester, Marthan Nieuwoudt; Blix, Arnoldus Schytte; Boehme, Lars; Bost, Charles-Andre; Boveng, Peter; Cleeland, Jaimie; Constantine, Rochelle; Corney, Stuart; Crawford, Robert J.M.; Dalla Rosa, Luciano; De Bruyn, P.J. Nico; Delord, Karine; Descamps, Sebastien; Double, Mike; Emmerson, Louise; Fedak, Mike; Friedlaender, Ari; Gales, Nick; Goebel, Michael E.; Goetz, Kimberly T.; Guinet, Christophe; Goldsworthy, Simon D.; Harcourt, Rob; Hinke, Jefferson T.; Jerosch, Kerstin; Kato, Akiko; Kerry, Knowles R.; Kirkwood, Roger; Kooyman, Gerald L.; Kovacs, Kit M.; Lawton, Kieran; Lowther, Andrew D.; Lydersen, Christian; Lyver, Phil O’B.; Makhado, Azwianewi B.; Márquez, Maria E.I.; McDonald, Birgitte I.; McMahon, Clive Reginald; Muelbert, Monica; Nachtsheim, Dominik; Nordøy, Erling S.; Olmastroni, Silvia; Phillips, Richard A.; Pistorius, Pierre Anton; Plotz, Joachim; Putz, Klemens; Ratcliffe, Norman; Ryan, Peter G.; Santos, Mercedes; Southwell, Colin; Staniland, Iain; Takahashi, Akinori; Tarroux, Arnaud; Trivelpiece, Wayne; Wakefield, Ewan; Weimerskirch, Henri; Wienecke, Barbara; Xavier, Jose C.; Wotherspoon, Simon; Jonsen, Ian D.; Raymond, Ben
Date:
2020-04
Abstract:
Southern Ocean ecosystems are under pressure from resource exploitation and climate
change. Mitigation requires the identifcation and protection of Areas of Ecological
Signifcance (AESs), which have so far not been determined at the ocean-basin scale.
Here, using assemblage-level tracking of marine predators, we identify AESs for this
globally important region and assess current threats and protection levels. Integration
of more than 4,000 tracks from 17 bird and mammal species reveals AESs around subAntarctic islands in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans and over the Antarctic continental
shelf. Fishing pressure is disproportionately concentrated inside AESs, and climate
change over the next century is predicted to impose pressure on these areas,
particularly around the Antarctic continent. At present, 7.1% of the ocean south of 40°S
is under formal protection, including 29% of the total AESs. The establishment and
regular revision of networks of protection that encompass AESs are needed to provide
long-term mitigation of growing pressures on Southern Ocean ecosystems.
