Documents

ATCM XXXIII and CEP XIII 2010, Punta del Este, Uruguay

Attachment 3 to Working Paper 2 (WP002)

ATT003 to WP002: SCAR Bioprospecting Questionnaire for ATCM (Attachment)

The quenstionnaire used for the SCAR-member biological prospecting survey

ATCM XXXIII and CEP XIII 2010, Punta del Este, Uruguay

Attachment 4 to Information Paper 3 (IP003)

IP003 to IP003: The SCAR Lecture Psychrophiles: A Challenge for Life (Lecture Slides) (Attachment)

by Professor Charles Gerday, Institute of Chemistry, University of Liège, Belgium

Lecture slides.

Also see the lecture slide text and  accompanying text.

ATCM XXXIII and CEP XIII 2010, Punta del Este, Uruguay

Attachment 5 to Working Paper 6 (WP006)

ATT005 to WP006: Current Knowledge for Reducing Risks Posed by Terrestrial Non-native Species: Towards an Evidence-based Approach (with Australia) (Attachment)

Appendices:

Appendix 1 – Risk assessment protocol for springtails developed by Greenslade (2002: page 341) 

Appendix 2 – References

ATCM XXXIII and CEP XIII 2010, Punta del Este, Uruguay

Information Paper

IP003: The SCAR Lecture Psychrophiles: A Challenge for Life

by Professor Charles Gerday, Institute of Chemistry, University of Liège, Belgium

This paper provides lecture slide text.

Also see the lecture slides (ATT004) and accompanying text.

ATCM XXXIII and CEP XIII 2010, Punta del Este, Uruguay

Information Paper

IP010: The Annual Report for 2009 of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) of the International Council for Science (ICSU)

Summary:

ATCM XXXIII and CEP XIII 2010, Punta del Este, Uruguay

Information Paper

IP028: The Association of Polar Early Career Scientists (APECS): Shaping the Future of Polar Research

Summary:

This paper provides an overview of the Association of Polar Early Career Scientists (APECS), including the background of the Association, its structure, current partnerships and associations, capacity buidling, edulation and outreach activities, and future direction. Appendices list partners and collaborators, APECS participation in organizing major conferences, and APECS career development workshops over the last three years.

ATCM XXXIII and CEP XIII 2010, Punta del Este, Uruguay

Information Paper

IP046: Antarctic Climate Change and the Environment – 2010 Update

Summary:

The SCAR Antarctic Climate Change and the Environment (ACCE) report was a major initiative to review the climatic changes that had taken place on the continent and across the Southern Ocean, and to consider the possible impact on the biota and other aspects of the environment. It examined changes on the geological time scale and through the instrumental period of the last 50 years, and considered how the Antarctic climate and environment might evolve over the next century under a range of greenhouse gas emission scenarios.

The report was published online ahead of the COP-15 meeting in December 2009 and launched to the media at the Science Media Centre in London on 30 November. It was well received and generated significant attention worldwide, with the editors appearing on TV and radio programs, and conducting interviews with journalists. However, Antarctic science is advancing at a very rapid rate and SCAR has always intended to develop a means of maintaining the momentum of the ACCE initiative. SCAR will prepare periodic updates to the report that highlight new advances in our knowledge of Antarctic climate science. As the ACCE report was published quite recently, this paper considers some key questions that climate and other environmental scientists are concerned with.

See also Resolution 4 (2010) and Decision 5 (2010) in relation to the SCAR Antarctic Climate Change and the Environment Report (Attachment).

ATCM XXXIII and CEP XIII 2010, Punta del Este, Uruguay

Information Paper

IP047: Census of Antarctic Marine Life (CAML) (with Australia)

Summary:

Australia and SCAR reported on the objectives and initial outputs of the Census of Antarctic Marine Life (CAML) in ATCMXXX/IP 32. Since its inception in 2005, CAML has developed a robust benchmark of the distribution and abundance of marine biodiversity in Antarctic waters, against which future change in the marine environment can be assessed. CAML has been recognised as a highlight of the International Polar Year (IPY) and a significant activity of SCAR. Now in its final year of funding by the Alfred P Sloan Foundation (New York), CAML will submit a final report of its achievements to the XXXIV Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting in 2011. This paper gives an overview of CAML achievements.

ATCM XXXIII and CEP XIII 2010, Punta del Este, Uruguay

Information Paper

IP050: The Southern Ocean Observing System (SOOS)

Summary:

The development of a Southern Ocean Observing System (SOOS) meets the initial requirements of ATCM Resolution 3 (2007), which welcomed and supported “the proposal by SCAR to establish a multi-disciplinary pan-Antarctic observing system, which will, in collaboration with others, coordinate long-term monitoring and sustained observation in the Antarctic”. It is one of the key recommendations from the Antarctic Climate Change and the Environment Report (Turner et al., 2009) and is also a significant legacy of the recent International Polar Year. The design of a SOOS was led by a partnership of organisations: SCAR, the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR), The Census of Antarctic Marine Life (CAML), the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS), the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) and the Partnership for Observations of the Global Ocean (POGO). Other groups such as IAATO and COMNAP have provided significant feedback. The US NOAA programme also provided funds for holding SOOS workshops to further the SOOS design plan. This paper provides a vision and scope for SOOS and outlines the proposed structure of the observing system.

ATCM XXXIII and CEP XIII 2010, Punta del Este, Uruguay

Information Paper

IP066: SCAR Data and Information Strategy (DIMS)

Summary:

Although it has been developing capacity for international data management amongst its member nations since 1992, in 2009 SCAR endorsed its first Data and Information Strategy (DIMS). This Strategy is designed to assist SCAR to more effectively implement its programs and activities aimed at coordinating high quality, international scientific research in the Antarctic and research related to examining the Antarctic region’s role in the Earth system. Strategy outcomes will also improve SCAR’s ability to provide independent scientific advice to the Antarctic Treaty System Consultative Parties and other organizations on issues of science and conservation affecting the management of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean.

The committee in SCAR responsible for all aspects of data and information management is the Standing Committee on Antarctic Data management (SCADM). Data and information are valuable and irreplaceable resources. In the pursuit of many science objectives (especially those of a pan-Antarctic nature) it is necessary to use data and information collected by scientists from many countries. SCAR recognizes the critical importance of the stewardship of data and information within national and international programs and the importance of data accessibility by the international Antarctic scientific community. SCAR does not consider data management to be an “add-on” or an additional task in Science. It is a fundamental aspect of modern earth system science and is essential to addressing complex questions about how our planet works and how it will respond in the future.

This paper outlines the vision and strategies of DIMS and the roadmap that SCAR will pursue to implement the strategy.

ATCM XXXIII and CEP XIII 2010, Punta del Este, Uruguay

An overview of SCAR Papers submitted to ATCM XXXIII and CEP XIII 2010

ATCM XXXIII and CEP XIII 2010, Punta del Este, Uruguay

Attachment to Information paper 46 (IP046)

Resolution 4 (2010) and Decision 10 (2010) – SCAR Antarctic Climate Change and the Environment Report (Attachment)

ATCM XXXIII and CEP XIII 2010, Punta del Este, Uruguay

Working Paper

WP002: Biological Prospecting in the Antarctic Region: a Conservative Overview of Current Research

Summary:

This paper considers the complexities of biological prospecting in Antarctica. Considerations include that a definition of bioprospecting has not been reached, that bioprospecting activities are not always able to be identified as such and that the orgaisms concerned are not always limited to the Antarctic region. The paper gives and overview of the published research in the area and reports on responses to a SCAR-member survey on biological prospecting. It is concluded that biological prospecting research in the Antarctic region and/or involving Antarctic organisms is extensive and widespread.

See the SCAR-member biological prospecting survey questionnaire (ATT003).

ATCM XXXIII and CEP XIII 2010, Punta del Este, Uruguay

Working Paper

WP003: Biodiversity-based Evaluation of the Environmental Domains Analysis

Summary:

Responding to a need to give substance to the phrase ‘systematic environmental geographic framework’ in Article 3(2) of Annex V to the Protocol on Environmental Protection, New Zealand used an Environmental Domains Analysis to provide such a framework. The development of the Environmental Domains Analysis was presented to the CEP through a series of working papers (e.g. ATCM XXVIII WP 2, ATCM XXIX WP32, ATCM XXX WP12) culminating in the final product reported in ATCM XXXI WP27. The Environmental Domains Analysis, based on a wide variety of spatially explicit, abiotic environmental data layers, resulted in the identification of 21 environments for Antarctica (for full details see the technical report by Morgan et al. 2007 appended to ATCM XXXI WP27). Various applications were suggested for the Environmental Domains Analysis (hereafter EDA), including assistance with the development of a comprehensive system of protected areas for the region, management of protected areas, and a systematic assessment of the representativeness and/or distinctiveness of protected areas, including species and ecosystem processes. The use of abiotic environmental variables as surrogate measures of diversity and representativeness of protected areas is a well-established approach used for other continental regions, acknowledging that typically they do not capture historical signals unless explicitly designed to do so. Evaluation of the effectiveness of such an approach is usually based on how well the network of suggested areas, based on feature or abiotic diversity, captures biological diversity.

To this end, SCAR agreed at ATCM XXX to undertake an assessment of the extent to which the outcome of the EDA corresponds with patterns found in spatially explicit biodiversity data for the region. This paper reports on that assessment, based on data from the SCAR Biodiversity Database hosted by the Australian Antarctic Division.

ATCM XXXIII and CEP XIII 2010, Punta del Este, Uruguay

Working Paper

WP004: Preliminary Results from the International Polar Year Programme: Aliens in Antarctica

Summary:

Non-native species have rapidly risen to the fore as one of the major concerns facing conservation in the Antarctic Treaty area, and have been well recognized as such by the CEP (reviewed in Rogan-Finnemore 2008 and ATCM XXXII SP11). Further to assess propagule pressure (e.g. numbers of seeds, spores, reproductive adult organisms) and the vectors (e.g. baggage, clothing, containers) and pathways (e.g. Australia to Antarctica via air or via sea), in as integrated a fashion as possible, across the region, an international consortium of researchers undertook the Aliens in Antarctica project as part of the International Polar Year (see ATCM XXX IP 49). Consortium members, with the assistance of national operators, COMNAP, IAATO members, other participants, and a range of volunteers undertook standardized sampling using methods developed from scientific best practise and accepted in the published scientific literature (e.g. Whinam et al. 2005; Lee & Chown 2009; Hughes et al. 2010).

This paper reports on the preliminary analyses of data on vascular plant seeds carried by visitors to the region. This forms a major part of the IPY Aliens in Antarctica project. In summary the following sampling was undertaken:

1. Most categories of Antarctic visitors: ship’s or aircraft crew, tourist, tourist support personnel, field- based scientist, station- or ship-based scientist, field-based national programme support personnel, and station- or ship-based national programme support personnel.
2. Different classes of vessels/aircraft: aircraft, national programme ship, small tourist ship (40-80 passengers), medium-sized tourist ship (81-200 passengers), large tourist ship (> 200 passengers).
3. Different routes/pathways: that is, departing from South America, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, and from elsewhere.
4. Different categories of personal gear (e.g. clothing, bags).
5. Questionnaires established from visitors the geographic areas and major ecosystems they had visited prior to the Antarctic voyage, previous use of clothing and other items, and information on the date and port of departure

ATCM XXXIII and CEP XIII 2010, Punta del Este, Uruguay

Working Paper

WP006: Current Knowledge for Reducing Risks Posed by Terrestrial Non-native Species: Towards an Evidence-based Approach (with Australia)

Summary:

Non-indigenous species (NIS) are considered one of the most significant conservation challenges for the Antarctic, and have been discussed in a wide variety of papers to the Treaty. Three major classes of challenge posed by NIS for the region may be recognized:

1. The introduction (by humans) and establishment of species not indigenous to the area south of 60°S – extraregional introductions.
2. The movement (by humans) and subsequent establishment of species indigenous to the Treaty Area among biogeographic zones or biologically distinct areas, from areas where they naturally occur to those where they do not – extralimital introductions.
3. The introgression of populations, constituting the movement of individuals (by humans) among populations that are genetically distinct – genetic homogenization.

The vectors and pathways for the entry of extraregional introductions to the Antarctic, and the higher taxa most likely to be transported are being increasingly well documented. Thus, risk assessments for extraregional introductions to the Antarctic based on vectors, pathways and propagule pressure can now readily be undertaken, and methods to do so exist. Clear goals for eradication have also been discussed. Although knowledge of vectors, pathways and taxa is not well developed for microorganisms and micro-invertebrates (tardigrades, nematodes), this situation is not unique to the Antarctic.

Less attention has been given to the requirements for reducing the risks of extralimital introductions and genetic homogenization, even though these risks have been recognized explicitly for the region. The risks associated with these two processes may be higher than those for extraregional introductions because the physiological barriers to establishment for individuals of Antarctic species in another Antarctic site are likely to be much lower than those for individuals of most species from outside the region.

In this paper, the prospects for and complexities of risk assessments are reviewed. Information on vectors and pathways will be provided by IPY Aliens in Antarctica project and are available elsewhere. The primary objective is to provide an overview of how further to consider the risks associated with NIS, in keeping with global conservation best practise and the developing framework for such management in the region.

For appendices see Attachment 5 (ATT005).