Scientists have discovered after pursuing a unique global research that Antarctica's biodiversity, as well as the Southern Ocean, are not as ecologically sound as thought. Results show that even though the area excels in some areas such as invasive species management, it is falling behind in other areas such as protected area management as well as the control of bioprospecting,
The research involved a group of 23 experts. The team examined comparative studies between Antarctic biodiversity as well as the management of this region with other parts of the world. The team met in Monaco and concentrated on 20 biodiversity targets called the Aichi Targets. They were set up by the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) to assess the development in reducing global biodiversity loss. It was a study that marked the first time the Aichi targets were applied to Antarctica's biodiversity and the Southern Ocean. These regions were responsible for about 10 percent of the planet's surface, according to Phys.org.
Hence, the study ensures that future assessments made under the CBD's Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 will have a worldwide impact. Even if Antarctica's biodiversity is excelling in invasive species management and developing with local pollutant pressures, there is not enough effort to reduce species degradation. That has found to be getting worse due to increased scientific expeditions, tourist activity, and warming oceans, according to IFLScience.
"Biodiversity in the Antarctic region has often fallen between the cracks - no pun intended, given the cracks in ice cover that are developing," says study co-author Peter Stoett, professor of political science in Concordia's Faculty of Arts and Science. "Biodiversity is challenged in this region just like it is anywhere else, despite the relatively pristine nature of the landscape," he says. He adds that tourism and challenges of warm oceans, melting ice cover and transnational pollution are posing big threats to Antarctica's biodiversity.
YouTube/Ravi Teja D.V.
