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. 2020 Apr;580(7801):87-92.
doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2126-y. Epub 2020 Mar 18.

Tracking of marine predators to protect Southern Ocean ecosystems

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

Tracking of marine predators to protect Southern Ocean ecosystems

Mark A Hindell et al. Nature. 2020 Apr.
Free article

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.

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