Abstract
The Antarctic Specially Protected Areas (ASPAs) are zones with restricted access to protect outstanding environmental, scientific, historic, aesthetic, or wilderness values adopted inside the Antarctic Treaty System. Meanwhile, in southern Patagonia, conservation initiatives are implemented by the state of Chile and private entities. However, both are considered unrepresentative. Our work evaluates the representativeness of thein situconservation through a genetic approach of the mossSanionia uncinata(Hedw.) Loeske among protected and neighboring free access areas in Maritime Antarctica and southern Patagonia. We discuss observed presence with both current and reconstructed past potential niche distributions (11 and 6 ka BP) in the Fildes Peninsula on King George Island. Results showed occurrence of several spatially genetic subpopulations distributed inside and among ASPA and free access sites. Some free access sites showed a higher amount of polymorphism compared with ASPA, having ancestry in populations developed in those places since 6 ka BP. The different spatial and temporal hierarchies in the analysis suggest that places for conservation of this species in Maritime Antarctica are not well-represented, and that some free access areas should be considered. This work represents a powerful multidisciplinary approach and a great challenge for decision-makers to improve the management plans and the sustainable development in Antarctica.
Highlights
In the 1960s, the subcommittee on conservation of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) working group on Biology developed a regime known nowadays as the system of protected areas in Antarctica
We further found that protected areas in southern Patagonia had a higher number of polymorphic alleles but similar total genetic diversity compared with free-access areas (Table 1)
Many factors have been considered in conservation efforts, the genetic diversity of populations was not a standard tool when conservation in Antarctica and Patagonia started
Summary
In the 1960s, the subcommittee on conservation of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) working group on Biology developed a regime known nowadays as the system of protected areas in Antarctica. Their efforts initially resulted in several recommendations for the establishment of a considerable number of sites, designated mainly for the protection of their scientific value and providing benchmarks and baselines for the use of future scientific activities. The special ATCM on Antarctic mineral resources (SATCM IV Wellington, 1988) was later the first to proclaim the basic considerations for the protection of the “Antarctic environment and dependent and associated ecosystem” (Berguño, 2000)
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