Scholarlink

<p>The Southern Ocean around Antarctica is one of the fastest changing regions on the planet and an emerging resource frontier for fisheries. Here, we present the Antarctic Ecosystem Value Index created by merging ecosystem information across food web trophic levels, from phytoplankton to fish and penguins, to quantify the ecological value of marine areas around the Antarctic continent. We find that coastal polynyas - areas of reduced sea-ice - have Index values 31–72% higher than surrounding areas, suggesting that these areas are biologically valuable hot spots for a number of ice-dependent Antarctic Species. Using output from an Earth system model to generate future projections of the Index, we find that high-value locations, often within polynyas, are likely to continue to be valuable throughout the 21st century despite environmental changes. The Antarctic Ecosystem Value Index indicates that penguins lose importance as their habitat becomes increasingly unsuitable, so protecting high-value habitat areas may be critical for these species. This study also shows that while many high-value Index areas are within existing or proposed Marine Protected Areas, there are several opportunities for adopting additional protection, particularly in East Antarctica and the Amundsen Sea.</p>

错误：搜索内容不能为空，请输入英文关键词
错误：关键词超出字数限制，请精简
高级检索

An Antarctic ecosystem value index to quantify ecological value across trophic levels and over time

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

    开放获取

  • 发表日期：

    2026年2月11日

查看全文
  • Alice K. DuVivier,
  • Kristen M. Krumhardt,
  • Laura L. Landrum,
  • Zephyr Sylvester,
  • Bilgecan Şen,
  • Sara Labrousse,
  • Christian Che-Castaldo,
  • Alice Eparvier,
  • Marika M. Holland,
  • Michelle A. LaRue,
  • Cara Nissen,
  • Michael N. Levy,
  • Stephanie Jenouvrier,
  • Cassandra Brooks

摘要

The Southern Ocean around Antarctica is one of the fastest changing regions on the planet and an emerging resource frontier for fisheries. Here, we present the Antarctic Ecosystem Value Index created by merging ecosystem information across food web trophic levels, from phytoplankton to fish and penguins, to quantify the ecological value of marine areas around the Antarctic continent. We find that coastal polynyas - areas of reduced sea-ice - have Index values 31–72% higher than surrounding areas, suggesting that these areas are biologically valuable hot spots for a number of ice-dependent Antarctic Species. Using output from an Earth system model to generate future projections of the Index, we find that high-value locations, often within polynyas, are likely to continue to be valuable throughout the 21st century despite environmental changes. The Antarctic Ecosystem Value Index indicates that penguins lose importance as their habitat becomes increasingly unsuitable, so protecting high-value habitat areas may be critical for these species. This study also shows that while many high-value Index areas are within existing or proposed Marine Protected Areas, there are several opportunities for adopting additional protection, particularly in East Antarctica and the Amundsen Sea.