A group of about 150 scientists has created the Biogeographic Atlas of the Southern Ocean , documenting marine biodiversity in the Antarctic since the time of the first expeditions to the area, as reported by the Scientific Committee on Research on Antarctic (SCAR, for its acronym in English), who coordinated the research, presented at the scientific conference held from 25 to 28 August in Auckland (New Zealand).
According to the organization, the initiative has had the participation of 147 researchers from 91 institutions in 22 countries including, among others, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Denmark, France, Germany and Spain. Over the past four years, this team has collected data on the presence, evolution, genetic changes and effects of climate change on more than 9,000 species in the area, from bacteria to whales.
“For the first time since the years when Captain Cook explored the Antarctic, scientists have I gathered, analyzed and mapped marine diversity this environment in a comprehensive atlas, a database accessible will facilitate the conservation of wildlife “, highlighted the main editor and researcher at the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Claude de Broyer.
The number of species classified by the Atlas is a “dramatic increase” in relation to the numbers that were handled previously, according to the British Antarctic Survey scientist, Huw J. Griffiths, who explained to Europa Press that through new techniques such as DNA analysis , the scientific community has been able to review the existing knowledge on the wildlife in the Antarctic and find, for example, that the Giant isopod Glyptonocus antarcticus , which was considered a species is actually “eleven different species.”
Asked about the effects of human activity on biodiversity in the Antarctic, Griffith has distinguished between species “most endangered” as whales, seals and some fish, “still recovering” from human exploitation in the past, and other groups such as invertebrates that inhabit the bottom of the sea, which have remained “reasonably safe” of human influence.
However, he warned that both the former and face the “common challenge” that present a potential rising temperatures , added to the acificación oceans and changes in the power supplies, among others.
In this regard, his partner in the research and professor of Biological Oceanography at the University Marie Curie Paris (France), Philippe Koubbi, added that the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR, for its acronym in English) has been working since 2005 for designation of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in the Southern , with areas already declared as reserve in the South Orkney Islands, others on the way to being like the Ross Sea and East Antarctica and other yet to be proposed as the Weddell Sea and the Antarctic Peninsula.
“Although the fishing industry is well controlled by the CCAMLR, there is still the problem of illegal fishing. It is therefore essential an Atlas like this, with a database that you provide a global understanding of biodiversity in the Antarctic . As of now, scientists already know what areas need protection and may well continue with studies area by area, at regional level, “he underlined.
No comments:
Post a Comment