1. Tracking of marine predators to protect Southern Ocean ecosystems.
- Author
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Hindell MA, Reisinger RR, Ropert-Coudert Y, Hückstädt LA, Trathan PN, Bornemann H, Charrassin JB, Chown SL, Costa DP, Danis B, Lea MA, Thompson D, Torres LG, Van de Putte AP, Alderman R, Andrews-Goff V, Arthur B, Ballard G, Bengtson J, Bester MN, Blix AS, Boehme L, Bost CA, Boveng P, Cleeland J, Constantine R, Corney S, Crawford RJM, Dalla Rosa L, de Bruyn PJN, Delord K, Descamps S, Double M, Emmerson L, Fedak M, Friedlaender A, Gales N, Goebel ME, Goetz KT, Guinet C, Goldsworthy SD, Harcourt R, Hinke JT, Jerosch K, Kato A, Kerry KR, Kirkwood R, Kooyman GL, Kovacs KM, Lawton K, Lowther AD, Lydersen C, Lyver PO, Makhado AB, Márquez MEI, McDonald BI, McMahon CR, Muelbert M, Nachtsheim D, Nicholls KW, Nordøy ES, Olmastroni S, Phillips RA, Pistorius P, Plötz J, Pütz K, Ratcliffe N, Ryan PG, Santos M, Southwell C, Staniland I, Takahashi A, Tarroux A, Trivelpiece W, Wakefield E, Weimerskirch H, Wienecke B, Xavier JC, Wotherspoon S, Jonsen ID, and Raymond B
- Subjects
- Animals, Antarctic Regions, Biodiversity, Birds, Fishes, Food Chain, Ice Cover, Mammals, Population Dynamics, Animal Identification Systems, Aquatic Organisms physiology, Climate Change statistics & numerical data, Conservation of Natural Resources methods, Ecosystem, Oceans and Seas, Predatory Behavior
- Abstract
Southern Ocean ecosystems are under pressure from resource exploitation and climate change
1,2 . Mitigation requires the identification and protection of Areas of Ecological Significance (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 sub-Antarctic 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.- Published
- 2020
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