Becker Sarah L, Boyd Charlotte, Handley Jonathan M, Raymond Ben, Reisinger Ryan, Ropert-Coudert Yan, Apelgren Nora, Davies Tammy E, Lea Mary-Anne, Santos Mercedes, Trathan Philip N, Van de Putte Anton P, Huckstadt Luis A, Charrassin Jean-Benoit, Brooks Cassandra M
Department of Environmental Studies, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, USA.
Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Science (CIRES), University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, USA.
Conserv Biol. 2025 Feb;39(1):e14345. doi: 10.1111/cobi.14345. Epub 2024 Aug 15.
Biodiversity is critical for maintaining ecosystem function but is threatened by increasing anthropogenic pressures. In the Southern Ocean, a highly biologically productive region containing many endemic species, proactive management is urgently needed to mitigate increasing pressures from fishing, climate change, and tourism. Site-based conservation is one important tool for managing the negative impacts of human activities on ecosystems. The Key Biodiversity Area (KBA) Standard is a standardized framework used to define sites vital for the persistence of global biodiversity based on criteria and quantitative thresholds. We used tracking data from 14 species of Antarctic and subantarctic seabirds and pinnipeds from the publicly available Retrospective Analysis of Antarctic Tracking Data (RAATD) data set to define KBAs for a diverse suite of marine predators. We used track2kba, an R package that supports identification of KBAs from telemetry data through identification of highly used habitat areas and estimates of local abundance within sites. We compared abundance estimates at each site with thresholds for KBA criteria A1, B1, and D1 (related to globally threatened species, individual geographically restricted species, and demographic aggregations, respectively). We identified 30 potential KBAs for 13 species distributed throughout the Southern Ocean that were vital for each individual species, population, and life-history stage for which they were determined. These areas were identified as highly used by these populations based on observational data and complement the ongoing habitat modeling and bioregionalization work that has been used to prioritize conservation areas in this region. Although further work is needed to identify potential KBAs based on additional current and future data sets, we highlight the benefits of utilizing KBAs as part of a holistic approach to marine conservation, given their significant value as a global conservation tool.
生物多样性对于维持生态系统功能至关重要，但正受到日益增加的人为压力的威胁。在南大洋这个生物高度丰富且包含许多特有物种的区域，迫切需要采取积极的管理措施，以减轻来自渔业、气候变化和旅游业不断增加的压力。基于地点的保护是管理人类活动对生态系统负面影响的一项重要工具。关键生物多样性区域（KBA）标准是一个标准化框架，用于根据标准和定量阈值定义对全球生物多样性的持续存在至关重要的地点。我们使用了来自公开可用的南极追踪数据回顾性分析（RAATD）数据集的14种南极和亚南极海鸟及鳍足类动物的追踪数据，为一系列不同的海洋捕食者定义关键生物多样性区域。我们使用了track2kba这个R包，它通过识别高度使用的栖息地面积和估计地点内的局部丰度，支持从遥测数据中识别关键生物多样性区域。我们将每个地点的丰度估计值与关键生物多样性区域标准A1、B1和D1（分别与全球受威胁物种、地理分布受限的单个物种以及种群聚集有关）的阈值进行了比较。我们为分布在南大洋的13个物种确定了30个潜在的关键生物多样性区域，这些区域对它们各自的物种、种群和所确定的生活史阶段都至关重要。根据观测数据，这些区域被确定为这些种群高度使用的区域，并补充了正在进行的栖息地建模和生物区域划分工作，这些工作已被用于确定该区域保护区的优先次序。尽管还需要进一步开展工作，以根据更多当前和未来的数据集识别潜在的关键生物多样性区域，但鉴于关键生物多样性区域作为一种全球保护工具具有重大价值，我们强调将其作为海洋保护整体方法的一部分加以利用的益处。
