Research sites get closer to field camps over time: Informing environmental management through a geospatial analysis of science in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica

Abstract

As in many parts of the world, the management of environmental science research in Antarctica relies on cost-benefit analysis of negative environmental impact versus positive scientific gain. Several studies have examined the environmental impact of Antarctic field camps, but very little work looks at how the placement of these camps influences scientific research. In this study, we integrate bibliometrics, geospatial analysis, and historical research to understand the relationship between field camp placement and scientific production in the McMurdo Dry Valleys of East Antarctica. Our analysis of the scientific corpus from 1907-2016 shows that, on average, research sites have become less dispersed and closer to field camps over time. Scientific output does not necessarily correspond to the number of field camps, and constructing a field camp does not always lead to a subsequent increase in research in the local area. Our results underscore the need to consider the complex historical and spatial relationships between field camps and research sites in environmental management decision-making in Antarctica and other protected areas.

Fig 1. Lake Bonney Camp (New), a semi-permanent field camp in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica.

Photo credit: Stephen Chignell, 2016, available in the McMurdo Dry Valleys History Archive (record #MCMEH-P000099) [19].

Fig 2. Map of the McMurdo Dry Valleys and associated Antarctic Specialty Managed Area (ASMA).

Locations of the 16 historic and current semi-permanent field camps are shown with 5 km (‘local’) and 20 km (‘distant’) circular buffers, overlain on satellite imagery [44].

Fig 3. Number of publications and field camps by year since the construction of the first field camp in 1958.

Dashed lines indicate statistically significant Sen’s slopes between changepoints. For publication frequency, p-values from left to right are < 0.001, < 0.01, and < 0.001. For number of field camps, p < 0.001.

Fig 4. Hotspots (density), and standard distance (dispersion) of scientific field studies in the McMurdo Dry Valleys from 1907–2016.

The minimum bounding polygon for all historic and current field camps (with 20 km buffer), and the McMurdo Dry Valleys Antarctic Specialty Managed Area (ASMA) boundary are included for reference. Note that the density surface is displayed with a stretch (gamma = 4) to highlight mid-range values. An animation showing these data through time is available in the S1 Video.

Fig 5. Time series of field camp proximity and overlay analyses.

Only statistically significant (p < 0.05) Sen’s slopes (dashed lines) are shown. a) Percent area of study site standard distance circle outside of field camp bounding polygon; b) Distance to the nearest field camp, standard distance of study sites, and randomized distance to the nearest field camp; c) Distance to the nearest field camp detrended from randomized distance and normalized.

Fig 6. Percentage of publications within 5 km and 5–20 km of each field camp, relative to the total number of publications within 20 km of the camp from 1958–2016.

Gray shading indicates the lifespan of each camp and bar widths correspond to quartiles based on this lifespan. Field camps are sequentially ordered (left to right) based on how many publications were counted within 5 km of them during their lifespan. Field camps managed by New Zealand (NZ) and the United States (US) are indicated in brackets.