Tracking of marine predators to protect Southern Ocean ecosystems

Mark A. Hindell (1) , Ryan R. Reisinger (2, 3, 4) , Yan Ropert‐coudert (4) , Luis A. Huckstädt (5) , Philip N. Trathan (6) , Horst Bornemann (7) , Jean-Benoit Charrassin (2) , Steven L. Chown (8) , Daniel P. Costa (6) , Bruno Danis (9) , Mary-Anne Lea (10) , David Thompson (11) , Leigh G. Torres (12) , Anton van de Putte (13) , Rachael Alderman (14) , Virginia Andrews-Goff (15) , Ben Arthur (10) , Grant Ballard (16) , John Bengtson (17) , Marthán N. Bester (17) , Arnoldus Schytte Blix (18) , Lars Boehme (19) , Charles-André Bost (4) , Peter Boveng (17) , Jaimie Cleeland (10) , Rochelle Constantine (20) , Stuart Corney (21) , Robert J. M. Crawford (22) , Luciano Dalla Rosa (23) , P. J. Nico de Bruyn (17) , Karine Delord (4) , Sébastien Descamps (24) , Mike Double (25) , Louise Emmerson (25) , Michael A. Fedak (19) , Ari Friedlaender (6) , Nick Gales (25) , Michael Goebel (26) , Kimberly T. Goetz (11) , Christophe Guinet (4) , Simon D. Goldsworthy (27) , Robert G. Harcourt (28) , Jefferson T. Hinke (29) , Kerstin Jerosch (7) , Akiko Kato (4) , Knowles R. Kerry (15) , Roger Kirkwood (15) , Gerald L. Kooyman (30) , Kit M. Kovacs (31) , Kieran Lawton (15) , Andrew D. Lowther (32) , Christian Lydersen (31) , Philip O'B. Lyver (33) , Azwianewi B. Makhado (22) , Maria Márquez (34) , Birgitte I. Mcdonald (35) , Clive R. Mcmahon (36) , Mônica M. C. Muelbert (37) , Dominik Nachtsheim (7) , Keith W. Nicholls (38) , Erling S. Nordøy (39) , Silvia Olmastroni (40) , Richard A. Phillips (38) , Pierre Pistorius (41) , Joachim Plötz (7) , Klemens Pütz (42) , Norman Ratcliffe (43) , Peter Y. A. Ryan (44) , Mercedes Santos (45) , Colin Southwell (15) , Iain Staniland (43) , Akinori Takahashi (46) , Arnaud Tarroux (24) , Wayne Trivelpiece (47) , Ewan Wakefield (48) , Henri Weimerskirch (4) , Barbara Wienecke (25) , José C. Xavier (49) , Simon Wotherspoon (10) , Ian D. Jonsen (50) , Ben Raymond (25)

1 Antarctic Wildlife Research Unit
2 PROTEO - Processus et interactions de fine échelle océanique
3 CESAB-FRB [France]
4 CEBC - Centre d'Études Biologiques de Chizé - UMR 7372
5 University of California Santa Cruz - Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
6 Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology [Santa Cruz]
7 AWI - Alfred-Wegener-Institut, Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung = Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research = Institut Alfred-Wegener pour la recherche polaire et marine
8 Monash University - School of Biological Sciences [Victoria, Australia]
9 Marine Biology Laboratory
10 IMAS - Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies [Hobart]
11 NIWA - National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research [Wellington]
12 Marine Mammal Institute
13 BEDIC, OD Nature [Brussels, Belgium]
14 Department of Primary Industries [Australia]
15 AAD - Australian Antarctic Division
16 PRBO Conservation Science
17 Department of Zoology and Entomology [Pretoria]
18 UiT - The Arctic University of Norway [Tromsø, Norway]
19 Scottish Oceans Institute
20 School of Biological Sciences [Auckland, New Zealand]
21 ACE-CRC - Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre
22 Oceans and Coasts - Department of Environment, Agriculture and Fisheries [South Africa]
23 Laboratório de Ecologia e Conservação da Megafauna Marinha [Rio Grande, Brazil]
24 NPRI - Norvegian Polar Research Institute
25 AAD - Australian Antarctic Division
26 Institute of Marine Sciences, Long Marine Laboratory
27 SARDI - South Australian Research and Development Institute [Australia]
28 Department of Biological Sciences [North Ryde]
29 Antarctic Ecosystem Research Division
30 Scholander Hall, Scripps Institution of Oceanography [CA, USA]
31 FRAM Centre
32 Norwegian Polar Institute, Fram Centre
33 Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research [Lincoln]
34 Instituto Antartico Argentino
35 San José State University - Moss Landing Marine Laboratories [CA, USA]
36 USIMS - University of Sydney Institute of Marine Science
37 Universidade Federal do Rio Grande
38 BAS - British Antarctic Survey
39 UiT - University of Tromsø
40 Dipartimento di Scienze Ambientali "G. Sarfatti"
41 National Research Foundation Centre of Excellence at the Percy FitzPatrick Institute
42 Antarctic Research Trust
43 British Antarctic Survey NERC [UK]
44 DST/NRF Centre of Excellence at the Percy FitzPatrick Institute for African Ornithology [South Africa]
45 Instituto Antártico Argentino
46 National Insitute of Polar Research
47 Antarctic Ecosystem Research Division
48 College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences [Glasgow]
49 Natural Environment Research Council - British Antarctic Survey [Cambridge, UK]
50 Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University (Australia)

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.

Domaines: Sciences de l'environnement

Mark A. Hindell, Ryan R. Reisinger, Yan Ropert‐coudert, Luis A. Huckstädt, Philip N. Trathan, et al.. Tracking of marine predators to protect Southern Ocean ecosystems. Nature, 2020, 580, pp.87-92. ⟨10.1038/s41586-020-2126-y⟩. ⟨hal-02520188⟩