Our footprint on Antarctica competes with nature for rare ice-free land

Brooks, Shaun T.; Jabour, Julia; Hoff, John van den; Bergstrom, Dana M.

doi:10.1038/s41893-019-0237-y

Cited by 125 publications

(106 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…(a) Monthly mean anomaly (the difference from climatological monthly mean) of 2 m air temperature from NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis 1 data (Kalnay et al, 1996) Such positive anomalous temperatures around Antarctica will have impacted biological systems across the continent. Most life exists in small ice-free oases, which collectively cover only 0.44% of the continent's landmass (Brooks, Jabour, Hoff, & Bergstrom, 2019), and largely depend on melting snow and ice for their water supply (Robinson, Wasley, & Tobin, 2003). The warm summer conditions will have accelerated melting of snowbanks, as has been documented for Eagle Island (see Figure 1c) and observed by us this summer near (Ball, Barrett, Gooseff, Virginia, & Wall, 2011;Barrett et al, 2008;Bergstrom, Woehler, Klekociuk, Pook, & Massom, 2018).…”

mentioning

confidence: 61%

The 2019/2020 summer of Antarctic heatwaves

Robinson

Klekociuk

King

et al. 2020

Global Change Biology

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confidence: 61%

The 2019/2020 summer of Antarctic heatwaves

Robinson

Klekociuk

King

et al. 2020

Global Change Biology

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“…The extent of the human disturbance footprint for the entire Antarctic continent has recently been calculated (Brooks et al 2019). This and many similar footprint studies (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Insights on the environmental impacts associated with visible disturbance of ice-free ground in Antarctica

2019

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The small ice-free areas of Antarctica provide an essential habitat for most evident terrestrial biodiversity, as well as being disproportionately targeted by human activity. Visual detection of disturbance within these environments has become a useful tool for measuring areas affected by human impact, but questions remain as to what environmental consequences such disturbance actually has. To answer such questions, several factors must be considered, including the climate and biotic and abiotic characteristics. Although a body of research has established the consequences of disturbance at given locations, this paper was conceived in order to assess whether their findings could be generalized as a statement across the Antarctic continent. From a review of 31 studies within the Maritime Antarctic, Continental Antarctic and McMurdo Dry Valleys regions, we found that 83% confirmed impacts in areas of visible disturbance. Disturbance was found to modify the physical environment, consequently reducing habitat suitability as well as directly damaging biota. Visible disturbance was also associated with hydrocarbon and heavy metal contamination and non-native species establishment, reflecting the pressures from human activity in these sites. The results add significance to existing footprint measurements based on visual analysis, should aid on-the-ground appreciation of probable impacts in sites of disturbance and benefit environmental assessment processes.

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“…Antarctica and the AP region further deliver important cultural services by providing opportunities for tourism and recreation (Liggett et al, 2011;Bender et al, 2016;Vila et al, 2016). This augments the supply of considerable cognitive effects such as scientific resources, resulting scientific research on the Antarctic continent and its surrounding seas (Kennicutt et al, 2015;Hughes et al, 2018;Brooks et al, 2019), and of important other non-use values such as aesthetic and bequest values, which we also included this assessment ( Table 1).…”

Section: Selecting and Describing Key Ecosystem Servicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…But despite this comprehensive protection and management framework, human activities continue to affect and change Antarctic ecosystems. On-going exploitation of marine resources, increasing presence and activities of humans in the region (Bender et al, 2016;Brooks et al, 2019), and rapid environmental change including climate change put Antarctica's terrestrial, coastal and marine ecosystems under increasing pressure (Aronson et al, 2011;Ducklow et al, 2013;Constable et al, 2014;Gutt et al, 2015). This threatens the sustained provisioning of ecosystem services from the region (Bölter and Müller, 2016;Longo et al, 2017), and economic or political interests put increasing pressure on the ATS and its comprehensive approach to long-term conservation of Antarctica and its ecosystems and resources (McGee and Liu, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%