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Antarctic Environments Portal
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Check out the most recently updated publications
Updated Publications
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...
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