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Global tracking of marine megafauna space use reveals how to achieve conservation targets

5 June, 2025 by Andrew Wood, Ashley Bennison, Janet Silk, Philip Trathan, Richard Phillips

The recent Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) sets ambitious goals but no clear pathway for how zero loss of important biodiversity areas and halting human-induced extinction of threatened species will…

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First report of vivipary in Deschampsia antarctica: a new insight into Antarctic plant reproductive strategies [Short note]

1 June, 2025 by Peter Convey

In the extreme conditions of Antarctica two native vascular plants are present, Colobanthus quitensis (Kunth) Bartl. (Caryophyllaceae) and Deschampsia antarctica Desv. (Poaceae), distributed along the western Antarctic Peninsula and the…

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Optimisation of diesel-degradation and growth kinetic modelling by Antarctic Janthinobacterium lividum

1 June, 2025 by Peter Convey

Fuel spills pose significant pollution threats to Antarctic terrestrial environments. Biological remediation offers a sustainable solution for restoring these polluted sites. Indigenous microorganisms capable of degrading diesel hydrocarbons at low…

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Where do we want the glaciological community to be in 2073? EDI challenges and visions from the 2023 Karthaus Summer School

1 June, 2025 by Katherine Turner

Despite the increased awareness and action towards Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI), the glaciological community still experiences and perpetuates examples of exclusionary and discriminatory behavior. We here discuss the challenges…

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AI sea ice forecasts for Arctic conservation: A case study predicting the timing of caribou sea ice migrations

28 May, 2025 by Ellen Bowler, James Byrne, Scott Hosking, Jeremy Wilkinson, Martin Rogers, Rachel Cavanagh, Tom Andersson

Every autumn on the south coast of Victoria Island (Nunavut, Canada), endangered Dolphin and Union (DU) caribou (Rangifer tarandus groenlandicus x pearyi) wait for sea ice to form before continuing…

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Competition drives the dispersal dynamics of two cup coral morphs in populations on the Powell Basin slopes, Weddell Sea, Antarctica

24 May, 2025 by Huw Griffiths, Rowan Whittle, Tasnuva Khan

Coexistence of ecologically similar taxa can contribute considerably to local biodiversity patterns. Deep water Southern Ocean benthic communities provide a unique setting to investigate coexistence mechanisms due to the relatively…

Read more on Competition drives the dispersal dynamics of two cup coral morphs in populations on the Powell Basin slopes, Weddell Sea, Antarctica

Trophic ecology of sooty albatross, segregating mechanisms from the congeneric light-mantled sooty albatross, and conservation implications

22 May, 2025 by Richard Phillips

The trophic ecology of the Endangered sooty albatross (SA, 4 populations) was investigated using the concept of isotopic niche as a proxy of the trophic niche, and its isotopic metrics…

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Genomic, transcriptomic and epigenomic signatures of ageing and cold adaptation in the Antarctic clam Laternula elliptica

21 May, 2025 by Melody Clark

Genomic data are lacking for most Antarctic marine invertebrates, predicating our ability to understand physiological adaptation and specific life-history traits, such as longevity. The environmental stress response of the Antarctic…

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Sustainability in the laboratory: evaluating the reusability of microtitre plates for PCR and fragment detection

21 May, 2025 by Jaume Forcada

Single-use plastics (SUPs) are indispensable in laboratory research, but their disposal contributes substantially to environmental pollution. Consequently, reusing common SUP items such as microtitre plates represents a promising strategy for…

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A High‐Resolution Microscopy System for Biological Studies of Cold‐Adapted Species Under Physiological Conditions

17 May, 2025 by Anne-Pia Marty, Lloyd Peck, Melody Clark

The Antarctic seabed harbors significant biodiversity, and almost 90% of oceanic environments are permanently below 5 °C (i.e., deep sea and polar regions). However, organisms whose entire lifecycle occurs around…

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Living with uncertainty: Using multi-model large ensembles to assess emperor penguin extinction risk for the IUCN Red List

1 May, 2025 by Philip Trathan

Improved methods for identifying species at risk are needed to strengthen climate change vulnerability assessments, as current estimates indicate that up to one million species face extinction due to environmental…

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Marine snow as vectors for microplastic transport: Multiple aggregation cycles account for the settling of buoyant microplastics to deep‐sea sediments

25 April, 2025

Many studies have reported the paradoxical observation of high concentrations of low‐density microplastics (plastic particles < 5 mm) in deep‐sea sediments despite their buoyancy. The incorporation of buoyant microplastics into…

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Change in iceberg calving behaviour preceded disintegration of North Sea ice shelves during the last deglaciation

24 April, 2025 by Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand, James Kirkham, Kelly Hogan, Robert Larter

Understanding how regime shifts in iceberg calving behavior affect ice shelf stability remains a challenge for numerical models. This is an important question as we consider the fate of the…

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Untangling the Complexities of Larval Antarctic Krill Overwintering Success Under Climate Change

18 April, 2025 by Alison Cleary, Eugene Murphy, Nadine Johnston, Sally Thorpe, Simeon Hill

Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) are integral to Southern Ocean pelagic ecosystems. Winters with extensive sea ice have been linked to high post-larval krill recruitment the following spring, suggesting that sea…

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Fast Contiguous Somatic Hypermutations for Single-Objective Optimisation and Multi-Objective Optimisation Via Decomposition

11 April, 2025 by Donya Yazdani

Somatic Contiguous Hypermutations (CHM) are a popular variation operator used in artificial immune systems for optimisation tasks. Theoretical studies have shown that CHM operators can lead to considerable speed-ups in…

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Proximate measurements of a giant iceberg reveal the effects of meltwater on upper ocean properties [Research briefing]

7 April, 2025 by Alexander Brearley, Kate Hendry, Natasha Lucas

Measurements from a robotic underwater vehicle reveal the impacts of meltwater from the giant iceberg A-68A on the properties of the surrounding Southern Ocean. In addition to increasing surface stratification…

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Feasibility of using very high-resolution satellite imagery to monitor Tristan albatrosses Diomedea dabbenena on Gough Island

4 April, 2025 by Ellen Bowler, Marie Attard, Peter Fretwell, Richard Phillips

The Tristan albatross Diomedea dabbenena is a Critically Endangered species that breeds exclusively on remote islands in the South Atlantic Ocean. Although the population continues to decline, regular on-the-ground monitoring…

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Twenty‐thousand‐year gap between deglaciation and peat formation on sub‐Antarctic Marion Island attributed to climate and sea level change

1 April, 2025 by Alexander Whittle, Dominic Hodgson

Radiocarbon dating of basal peats has been a key factor in determining minimum ages for deglaciation on sub-Antarctic islands. On Marion Island, peat bogs dominate the landscape below 300 m a.s.l.,…

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Annual trends in mercury contamination are associated with changing trophic niches of giant petrels

1 April, 2025 by Danielle Buss, Jaume Forcada, Richard Phillips, William Mills

Annual variation in prey availability can influence seabird diets and hence their exposure to pollutants, including mercury (Hg). Among seabirds, those species that scavenge carrion of marine mammals and other…

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The role of substrate characteristics and temperature for potential non-native plant establishment in Maritime Antarctic ecosystems

1 April, 2025 by Peter Convey

Polar ecosystems are threatened by non-native plants, and this risk will increase with climate warming. Non-native plant growth depends on Antarctic environmental conditions and substrates, but these influences are poorly…

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Desmonostoc cockrellii sp. nov. (Nostocales, Cyanobacteria): a new record of a subaerophytic species from The Habitat Penang Hill, Malaysia

1 April, 2025 by Peter Convey

Subaerophytic cyanobacterial diversity is poorly known in Malaysian rainforests generally and at Penang Hill specifically. A new subaerophytic species of cyanobacteria, Desmonostoc cockrellii sp. nov., was isolated from rocky surfaces…

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Developing a Southern Ocean Marine Ecosystem Model Ensemble to Assess Climate Risks and Uncertainties

20 March, 2025 by Eugene Murphy, Patrick Keith, Simeon Hill

Climate change could irreversibly modify Southern Ocean ecosystems. Marine ecosystem model (MEM) ensembles can assist policy making by projecting future changes and allowing the evaluation and assessment of alternative management…

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What can lithics tell us about hominin technology’s ‘primordial soup’? An origin of stone knapping via the emulation of Mother Nature

15 March, 2025 by Teal Riley

The use of stone hammers to produce sharp stone flakes—knapping—is thought to represent a significant stage in hominin technological evolution because it facilitated the exploitation of novel resources, including meat…

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