TY - JOUR

T1 - Threat management priorities for conserving Antarctic biodiversity

AU - Lee, Jasmine R

AU - Terauds, Aleks

AU - Carwardine, Josie

AU - Shaw, Justine D.

AU - Fuller, Richard A.

AU - Possingham, Hugh P.

AU - Chown, Steven L.

AU - Convey, Peter

AU - Gilbert, Neil

AU - Hughes, Kevin A.

AU - McIvor, Ewan

AU - Robinson, Sharon A.

AU - Ropert-Coudert, Yan

AU - Bergstrom, Dana M.

AU - Biersma, Elisabeth M.

AU - Christian, Claire

AU - Cowan, Don A.

AU - Frenot, Yves

AU - Jenouvrier, Stéphanie

AU - Kelley, Lisa

AU - Lee, Michael J.

AU - Lynch, Heather J.

AU - Njåstad, Birgit

AU - Quesada, Antonio

AU - Roura, Ricardo M.

AU - Shaw, E. Ashley

AU - Stanwell-Smith, Damon

AU - Tsujimoto, Megumu

AU - Wall, Diana H.

AU - Wilmotte, Annick

AU - Chadès, Iadine

N1 - Copyright: © 2022 Lee et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

PY - 2022

Y1 - 2022

N2 - Antarctic terrestrial biodiversity faces multiple threats, from invasive species to climate change. Yet no large-scale assessments of threat management strategies exist. Applying a structured participatory approach, we demonstrate that existing conservation efforts are insufficient in a changing world, estimating that 65% (at best 37%, at worst 97%) of native terrestrial taxa and land-associated seabirds are likely to decline by 2100 under current trajectories. Emperor penguins are identified as the most vulnerable taxon, followed by other seabirds and dry soil nematodes. We find that implementing 10 key threat management strategies in parallel, at an estimated present-day equivalent annual cost of US$23 million, could benefit up to 84% of Antarctic taxa. Climate change is identified as the most pervasive threat to Antarctic biodiversity and influencing global policy to effectively limit climate change is the most beneficial conservation strategy. However, minimising impacts of human activities and improved planning and management of new infrastructure projects are cost-effective and will help to minimise regional threats. Simultaneous global and regional efforts are critical to secure Antarctic biodiversity for future generations.

AB - Antarctic terrestrial biodiversity faces multiple threats, from invasive species to climate change. Yet no large-scale assessments of threat management strategies exist. Applying a structured participatory approach, we demonstrate that existing conservation efforts are insufficient in a changing world, estimating that 65% (at best 37%, at worst 97%) of native terrestrial taxa and land-associated seabirds are likely to decline by 2100 under current trajectories. Emperor penguins are identified as the most vulnerable taxon, followed by other seabirds and dry soil nematodes. We find that implementing 10 key threat management strategies in parallel, at an estimated present-day equivalent annual cost of US$23 million, could benefit up to 84% of Antarctic taxa. Climate change is identified as the most pervasive threat to Antarctic biodiversity and influencing global policy to effectively limit climate change is the most beneficial conservation strategy. However, minimising impacts of human activities and improved planning and management of new infrastructure projects are cost-effective and will help to minimise regional threats. Simultaneous global and regional efforts are critical to secure Antarctic biodiversity for future generations.

U2 - 10.1371/journal.pbio.3001921

DO - 10.1371/journal.pbio.3001921

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 36548240

VL - 20

JO - PLoS Biology

JF - PLoS Biology

SN - 1544-9173

IS - 12

M1 - e3001921

ER -