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Publication year : 0
Thematic : Marine Protected Areas
Language : English
Note
The marine ecosystem of theWest Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) extends from the Bellingshausen Sea to
the northern tip of the peninsula and from the mostly glaciated coast across the continental shelf to the
shelf break in the west. The glacially sculpted coastline along the peninsula is highly convoluted and
characterized by deep embayments that are often interconnected by channels that facilitate transport of
heat and nutrients into the shelf domain.The ecosystemis divided into three subregions, the continental
slope, shelf and coastal regions, each with unique ocean dynamics, water mass and biological
distributions. TheWAP shelf lies within the Antarctic Sea Ice Zone (SIZ) and like other SIZs, theWAP
system is very productive, supporting large stocks of marine mammals, birds and the Antarctic krill,
Euphausia superba.Ecosystemdynamics is dominated by the seasonal and interannual variation in sea ice
extent and retreat. The Antarctic Peninsula is one among the most rapidly warming regions on Earth,
having experienced a 28C increase in the annual mean temperature and a 68C rise in the mean winter
temperature since 1950. Delivery of heat from the Antarctic Circumpolar Current has increased
significantly in the past decade, sufficient to drive to a 0.68C warming of the upper 300 mof shelf water.
In the past 50 years and continuing in the twenty-first century, the warm, moistmaritime climate of the
northernWAP has been migrating south, displacing the once dominant cold, dry continental Antarctic
climate and causingmulti-level responses in the marine ecosystem. Ecosystemresponses to the regional
warming include increased heat transport, decreased sea ice extent and duration, local declines in icedependent
Ade´lie penguins, increase in ice-tolerant gentoo and chinstrap penguins, alterations in
phytoplankton and zooplankton community composition and changes in krill recruitment, abundance
andavailability topredators.The climate/ecological gradients extending along theWAPand the presence
of monitoring systems, field stations and long-termresearch programmesmake the region an invaluable
observatory of climate change and marine ecosystem response.
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Keywords : Gekko palawanensis
Encoded by : Pauline Carmel Joy Eje
