Antarctica’s wilderness fails to capture continent’s biodiversity

Rachel I. Leihy, Bernard W. T. Coetzee, Fraser Morgan, Ben Raymond, Justine D. Shaw, Aleks Terauds, Kees Bastmeijer and Steven L. Chown ()
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Rachel I. Leihy: Monash University
Bernard W. T. Coetzee: University of the Witwatersrand
Fraser Morgan: Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research
Ben Raymond: Water and the Environment
Justine D. Shaw: The University of Queensland
Aleks Terauds: Water and the Environment
Kees Bastmeijer: Tilburg University
Steven L. Chown: Monash University

Nature, 2020, vol. 583, issue 7817, 567-571

Abstract: Abstract Recent assessments of Earth’s dwindling wilderness have emphasized that Antarctica is a crucial wilderness in need of protection1,2. Yet human impacts on the continent are widespread3–5, the extent of its wilderness unquantified2 and the importance thereof for biodiversity conservation unknown. Here we assemble a comprehensive record of human activity (approximately 2.7 million records, spanning 200 years) and use it to quantify the extent of Antarctica’s wilderness and its representation of biodiversity. We show that 99.6% of the continent’s area can still be considered wilderness, but this area captures few biodiversity features. Pristine areas, free from human interference, cover a much smaller area (less than 32% of Antarctica) and are declining as human activity escalates6. Urgent expansion of Antarctica’s network of specially protected areas7 can both reverse this trend and secure the continent’s biodiversity8–10.

Date: 2020
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DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-2506-3

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