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Marine

Marine non-native species in the Southern Ocean and Antarctica

The Antarctic Circumpolar Current reduces the oceanographic transport of organisms from adjacent temperate ecosystems southward. Additionally, the extreme envir...
Terrestrial

Terrestrial non-native species in Antarctica: introduction, impact and management response

11 Aug 2023 Non-native species introductions and establishment are having substantial and likely irreversible environmental impacts on Antarctic ecosystems and biodiversity...
Human Activities

Tourism in Antarctica: facts, concerns, and challenges

13 Nov 2024 Antarctica is a unique tourism destination which, in comparison with other international destinations, still only receives a relatively low number of visitors e...
Terrestrial

The impacts of trampling and ground disturbances on Antarctic soils

13 Mar 2018 Antarctic soils are particularly vulnerable to disturbance due to their biological and physical properties and naturally slow recovery rates that are suppressed...
Marine

Emperor Penguins in a Changing World: Unveiling Current Trends and Predicting Future Scenarios

25 Apr 2024 The emperor penguin life cycle is tied to Antarctic sea ice, with populations thriving within an optimal sea-ice range. Individual emperor penguin colonies var...
Marine

Leopard seal (Hydrurga leptonyx)

25 Oct 2021 The IUCN Red List conservation status of the leopard seal is ‘Least Concern’. Nonetheless, sea-ice habitat loss, reduced krill stocks and increased fishing...
Marine

The warming of the Southern Ocean and its significance

4 Oct 2022 The Southern Ocean encircles Antarctica and extends north to abut the subtropics at ~30-35°S.  The Southern Ocean is a difficult place to collect measurem...
Marine

Antarctic krill and its fishery: current status and challenges

17 Oct 2022 The Antarctic krill is a dominant species of the Southern Ocean ecosystem, with possibly the largest biomass of any wild animal species on Earth. Krill play fu...
Marine

The recovery of Antarctica’s giants – baleen whales

2 Feb 2023 Baleen whales are predominately summer visitors to Antarctic waters, where they feed on large swarms of zooplankton, primarily Antarctic Krill (Euphausia super...
Terrestrial

The introduction of non-native species to Antarctica

3 Apr 2014 Antarctica’s biodiversity and its intrinsic values are at risk from the introduction of non-native species, predominantly facilitated by human activity. N...
Terrestrial

Pathways for the Introduction of Terrestrial Non-Native species

27 Nov 2018 Non-native organisms are relatively rare in Antarctica and the Southern Ocean. This is probably attributable to the comparatively recent human presence and to p...
Terrestrial

Status of known non-native species introductions and impacts

21 Aug 2015 Antarctic biodiversity and ecosystems are under threat from introduced non-native species.  Currently the Antarctic Peninsula and off shore islands are the...
Cryosphere

Antarctic Sea Ice #1: Physical Role and Function

2 Aug 2022 Sea ice – comprising frozen seawater in the form of both moving pack ice and stationary coastal landfast ice (fast ice) – is of major climatic, ecological a...
Cryosphere

Antarctic Sea Ice #3: Trends and Future Projections

2 Aug 2022 Since reliable and continuous satellite records began in 1979, there have been strong regionally- and seasonally-varying patterns of change and variability in s...
Cryosphere

Antarctic Sea Ice #2: Biological Importance

2 Aug 2022 Antarctic sea ice, in the form of immobile coastal “fast ice” and the more extensive moving pack ice (see Antarctic Sea Ice #1), supports one of the most ex...
Marine

Southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina L.) in the Antarctic Treaty Area

26 Sep 2020 Despite the wholesale slaughter of southern elephant seals for the commercial extraction of blubber-oil during the mid and late 1800’s, their populations hav...
Human Activities

Microplastics in the Southern Ocean

16 May 2018 The Southern Ocean has the lowest densities of floating macroplastic litter in the world. It was thought that the region was relatively free of microplastic con...
Terrestrial

Geothermal environments in Antarctica

6 Feb 2018 Geothermal environments in Antarctica have profound ecological and scientific value. They are single points of heat and moisture in an icy and dry landscape, an...
Marine

Ten scientific messages on risks and opportunities for life in the Antarctic

21 Feb 2022 Initiated by the SCAR scientific research programme “Antarctic Thresholds – Ecosystem Resilience and Adaptation” (AnT-ERA, 2013-2021), 26 exp...
Marine

Climate change as an emerging threat to Emperor Penguins

3 Apr 2014 The Emperor Penguin (Aptenodytes forsteri) is uniquely adapted to breed in the Antarctic winter, mainly on stable sea-ice. Climate change may negatively impact ...
Terrestrial

Non-native microbial introductions: what risk to Antarctic ecosystems?

13 Mar 2018 Antarctica’s biodiversity and its intrinsic values are potentially at risk from the introduction of non-native species, derived from a range of sources in...
Marine

Marine noise in the Southern Ocean

26 May 2021 Marine noise is a form of ocean pollution that may affect fauna ranging from tiny zooplankton to enormous whales. It may interfere with their acoustic sensing o...
Inland Aquatic Environments

Antarctic Subglacial Lakes

15 Apr 2019 Over 400 lakes exist beneath the Antarctic ice sheet. They range from giant stable lakes at the centre of the ice sheet, isolated from the atmosphere for millio...
Marine

Sampling the Southern Ocean: technology for observing the marine system

21 Jun 2018 The Southern Ocean around Antarctica is complex and especially difficult to investigate as harsh conditions often limit oceanographic sampling. Given the range ...
Marine

Antarctic Marine Biodiversity

10 Feb 2018 The past two and a half centuries of marine biological work in the Southern Ocean have resulted in a vast catalogue of living organisms. During this time there ...
Marine

Vulnerability of Southern Ocean biota to climate change

27 Apr 2017 Most Southern Ocean life is specifically adapted to the unique Antarctic environment. This extensive region is characterized by low temperature, a glaciated coa...
Terrestrial

Specially protected and managed areas in Antarctica

3 Apr 2014 Annex V to the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty (the Protocol) establishes a framework for designating Antarctic Specially Protected...
Terrestrial

Important Bird Areas in Antarctica

26 May 2016 There is a large amount of information on birds in Antarctica but this has never previously been assembled and analysed to determine exactly where the most sign...
Terrestrial

Antarctic Wildlife Diseases

14 Dec 2015 There have been relatively few wildlife mass mortality events reported in Antarctica that can be conclusively attributed to infectious disease.  Climate change...
Marine

Changes in penguin distribution over the Antarctic Peninsula and Scotia Arc

13 May 2016 Robust evidence highlights major shifts in the abundance and distribution of penguins (Adélie, chinstrap, gentoo, emperor, king, and macaroni) breeding on the ...
Marine

Ross Seal

18 Apr 2016 The Ross seal is one of four marine carnivores that breed in sea-ice habitats around Antarctica. Ross seals are not often seen because they breed and moult in ...
Inland Aquatic Environments

Inland aquatic biodiversity in Antarctica

21 Aug 2019 Studies of Antarctic inland waters have been underway for more than a hundred years. Biodiversity is impoverished compared to other climatic zones and, for most...
Marine

Sources, dispersal and impacts of wastewater in Antarctica

28 Sep 2016 The discharge of sewage and wastewater into the Antarctic environment represents a serious and significant risk of environmental impacts that includes the intro...
Inland Aquatic Environments

Diversity of Antarctic lakes, ponds and streams

10 May 2019 Inland waters are widely distributed across Antarctica and many have characteristics found only in polar regions. We summarise the diversity of inland aquatic e...
Human Activities

Persistent Organic Pollutants in Antarctica

19 Aug 2019 Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are carbon-based chemicals of anthropogenic origin that elicit toxic effects in organisms. For this reason, the United Nati...
Human Activities

Human disturbance to Antarctic wildlife

3 Apr 2014 Human activity in Antarctica has the potential to cause disturbance to wildlife. In severe cases, human disturbance to wildlife can cause declines in breeding s...
Human Activities

Clean-up of past waste disposal sites and abandoned work sites in Antarctica

3 Apr 2014 Historical operational practices have left waste disposal and abandoned work sites in many locations in Antarctica. Many countries have undertaken clean-up acti...
Human Activities

Micropollutants in Antarctic waters

2 Apr 2018 Thanks to improved analytical techniques chemicals used in personal care and pharmaceutical products are now amongst the most commonly detected compounds in sur...
Atmosphere

Predicting Antarctic Climate Using Climate Models

16 May 2016 Climate models are the main tool for making quantitative estimates of how Antarctic climate may change over the 21st century. There is high agreement on some as...
Terrestrial

Environmental Remediation

11 Feb 2018 Annex III to The Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty requires that past and present terrestrial waste disposal sites and abandoned work...