Tracking of marine predators to protect Southern Ocean ecosystems.

Mark A Hindell,Erling S Nordøy,Colin Southwell,Daniel P Costa,Luis A Hückstädt,Arnoldus Schytte Blix,Christian Lydersen,Luciano Dalla Rosa,Rochelle Constantine,Simon Wotherspoon,Leigh G Torres,Lars Boehme,Michael E Goebel,Grant Ballard,Anton P Van De Putte,Clive R Mcmahon,Nick Gales,Richard A Phillips,Louise Emmerson,Akinori Takahashi,Arnaud Tarroux,Monica Muelbert,Kit M Kovacs,P J Nico De Bruyn,Mercedes Santos,Gerald L Kooyman,Mike Double,Andrew D Lowther,Stuart Corney,Henri Weimerskirch,Azwianewi B Makhado,Philip N Trathan,Norman Ratcliffe,Jaimie Cleeland,Rachael Alderman,Kimberly T Goetz,Dominik Nachtsheim,Jefferson T Hinke,Kerstin Jerosch,Christophe Guinet,Keith W Nicholls,Karine Delord,Kieran Lawton,Robert J M Crawford,Bruno Danis,Joachim Plötz,Silvia Olmastroni,Horst Bornemann,Pierre Pistorius,Roger Kirkwood,Ian D Jonsen,Ben Raymond,Sébastien Descamps,Birgitte I Mcdonald,José C Xavier,Klemens Pütz,Peter G Ryan,Steven Loudon Chown ,María Elba Isabel Márquez ,Peter L Boveng ,Ewan D Wakefield ,Jean‐Benoît Charrassin ,Virginia Andrews‐Goff ,Knowles Kerry ,Yan Ropert‐Coudert ,Ari S Friedlaender ,Robert Harcourt ,Simon Goldsworthy ,Ben J Arthur ,Marthán N Bester ,Iain J Staniland ,Charles‐André Bost ,Ryan R Reisinger ,Phil O'b Lyver ,Akira Kato ,Mary‐Anne Lea ,Wayne Z Trivelpiece ,Michael A Fedak ,David R Thompson ,Bárbara Wienecke ,John L Bengtson

doi:10.1038/s41586-020-2126-y

Abstract

Southern Ocean ecosystems are under pressure from resource exploitation and climate change1,2. Mitigation requires the identification and protection of Areas of Ecological Significance (AESs), which have so far not been determined at the ocean-basin scale. Here, using assemblage-level tracking of marine predators, we identify AESs for this globally important region and assess current threats and protection levels. Integration of more than 4,000 tracks from 17 bird and mammal species reveals AESs around sub-Antarctic islands in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans and over the Antarctic continental shelf. Fishing pressure is disproportionately concentrated inside AESs, and climate change over the next century is predicted to impose pressure on these areas, particularly around the Antarctic continent. At present, 7.1% of the ocean south of 40°S is under formal protection, including 29% of the total AESs. The establishment and regular revision of networks of protection that encompass AESs are needed to provide long-term mitigation of growing pressures on Southern Ocean ecosystems.

Highlights

Background & SummaryThere is increasing evidence and concern that Southern Ocean ecosystems are facing globally significant challenges, especially in regions undergoing some of the fastest rates of warming on Earth, or where commercial fishing may be impacting ecosystem processes
Platform Terminal Transmitters (PTTs) tags transmit signals to ARGOS satellites which transfer the received signals to a receiving station at the Collecte de Localisation Satellites (CLS) in Toulouse, France, to estimate locations based on Doppler shifts in the received signals to an accuracy of approximately 1,000 m
Different models of GLS, PTT, and Global Positioning System devices (GPS) devices from different manufactures have been used throughout the years, each having specific characteristics that may influence accuracy of the locations, but because device type was not always provided by the data providers, a standard correction has been applied in Retrospective Analysis of Antarctic Tracking Data (RAATD)

Summary

Introduction

Background & SummaryThere is increasing evidence and concern that Southern Ocean ecosystems are facing globally significant challenges, especially in regions undergoing some of the fastest rates of warming on Earth, or where commercial fishing may be impacting ecosystem processes. Visual quality control of state space model filtered tracks circum-Antarctic synthesis yet exists that crosses species boundaries.

Results

Conclusion