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Mercury Concentrations in Feathers of Albatrosses and Large Petrels at South Georgia: Contemporary Patterns and Comparisons with Past Decades

18 May, 2024 by Richard Phillips, William Mills

Mercury (Hg) is an environmental contaminant that can negatively impact the health of humans and wildlife. Albatrosses and large petrels show some of the highest levels of Hg contamination among…

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Overview, Progress and Next Steps for Our Understanding of the Near-Earth Space Radiation and Plasma Environment: Science and Applications

15 May, 2024 by Richard Horne, Sarah Glauert

The Near-Earth Space Radiation and Plasma Environment falls within the realm of G3 Cluster (G3 refers to ‘Near-Earth Radiation and Plasma Environment’ of the ‘Coupled Geospace System’) under the COSPAR…

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Assessment of the southern polar and subpolar warming in the PMIP4 Last Interglacial simulations using paleoclimate data syntheses [in review]

7 May, 2024 by Louise Sime, Qinggang Gao, Rahul Sivankutty, Xu Zhang

Given relatively abundant paleo proxies, the study of the Last Interglacial (LIG, ~129-116 thousand years ago, ka) is valuable to understanding natural variability and feedback in a warmer-than-preindustrial climate. The…

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When ice and sea are not barriers for flies: First report of Trichocera maculipennis (Diptera) in South America

1 May, 2024 by Peter Convey

1. During the 2022/2023 austral winter, large swarms of Trichocera (Saltrichocera) maculipennis Meigen, 1818 (Diptera: Trichoceridae), were observed around house roofs in Puerto Williams (Navarino Island, southern Chile, 54° S). In…

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Updating requirements for Endangered, Threatened and Protected species MSC Fisheries Standard v3.0 to operationalise best practices

1 May, 2024 by Richard Phillips

Bycatch in fisheries is a key threat to non-target marine species, particularly for those species that have life histories with low productivity or poor conservation status. In this paper, the…

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Adapting the Marine Stewardship Council risk-based framework to estimate impacts on seabirds, marine mammals, marine turtles and sea snakes

1 May, 2024 by Richard Phillips

Information available on impacts of fisheries on target or bycatch species varies greatly, requiring development of risk assessment tools to determine potentially unacceptable levels. Seabirds, marine mammals, marine turtles and…

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Biogeographical and seasonal distribution of pteropod populations in the Western and Central Mediterranean Sea inferred from sediment traps

26 April, 2024 by Clara Manno

Pteropods are a group of cosmopolitan holoplanktic gastropods that produce an aragonite shell and play an important role in both marine ecosystems and geochemical cycles. In addition to being affected…

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The genome sequence of the marbled rockcod, Notothenia rossii Richardson, 1844 [Data Note] [version 1; peer review: 2 approved, 1 approved with reservations]

24 April, 2024 by Martin Collins

We present a genome assembly from an individual Notothenia rossii (the marbled rockcod; Chordata; Actinopterygii; Perciformes; Nototheniidae). The genome sequence is 1,042.9 megabases in span. Most of the assembly is…

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Long‐Term Variability and Tendencies in Mesosphere and Lower Thermosphere Winds From Meteor Radar Observations Over Esrange (67.9°N, 21.1°E)

16 April, 2024 by Ramesh Karanam, Tracy Moffat-Griffin

Long-term variabilities of monthly zonal (U) and meridional winds (V) in northern polar mesosphere and lower thermosphere (MLT, ∼80–100 km) are investigated using meteor radar observations during 1999–2022 over Esrange…

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Unexpectedly uneven distribution of functional trade-offs explains cranial morphological diversity in carnivores

16 April, 2024 by Marie Attard

Functional trade-offs can affect patterns of morphological and ecological evolution as well as the magnitude of morphological changes through evolutionary time. Using morpho-functional landscape modelling on the cranium of 132…

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The genome sequence of the limp eelpout, Melanostigma gelatinosum Günther, 1881 [Data Note] [version 1; peer review: 1 approved with reservations]

12 April, 2024 by Martin Collins

We present a genome assembly from a Melanostigma gelatinosum (the limp eelpout; Chordata; Actinopterygii; Perciformes; Zoarcidae). The genome sequence is 662.0 megabases in span. Most of the assembly is scaffolded…

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Intraguild predation in pinnipeds: Southern sea lions prey upon adult female South American fur seals in the Falkland Islands

1 April, 2024 by Kayleigh Jones

Intraguild predation, where a dominant predator kills and consumes a subordinate predator that is a potential competitor, is taxonomically and geographically widespread among mammalian carnivores (Palomares & Caro, 1999; Polis…

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Detection of plastic, cellulosic micro-fragments and microfibers in Laternula elliptica from King George Island (Maritime Antarctica)

1 April, 2024 by Simon Morley

It is generally acknowledged that microplastic pollutants are prevalent in ocean waters and sediments across a range of tropical, temperate, subpolar, and polar regions. The waters surrounding King George Island…

Read more on Detection of plastic, cellulosic micro-fragments and microfibers in Laternula elliptica from King George Island (Maritime Antarctica)

Testing the resilience, physiological plasticity and mechanisms underlying upper temperature limits of Antarctic marine ecto-therms

29 March, 2024 by Elaine Fitzcharles, Lloyd Peck, Melody Clark, Rebecca Smith, Rose Stainthorp, Simon Morley

Antarctic marine ectotherms live in the constant cold and are characterised by limited resilience to elevated temperature. Here we tested three of the central paradigms underlying this resilience. Firstly, we…

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Synchronous timing of return to breeding sites in a long-distance migratory seabird with ocean-scale variation in migration schedules

22 March, 2024 by Richard Phillips

Background Migratory birds generally have tightly scheduled annual cycles, in which delays can have carry-over effects on the timing of later events, ultimately impacting reproductive output. Whether temporal carry-over effects…

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The challenge to understand the zoo of particle transport regimes during resonant wave-particle interactions for given survey-mode wave spectra

13 March, 2024 by Nigel Meredith

Quasilinear theories have been shown to well describe a range of transport phenomena in magnetospheric, space, astrophysical and laboratory plasma “weak turbulence” scenarios. It is well known that the resonant…

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Advances in remote sensing of emperor penguins: first multi-year time series documenting trends in the global population

13 March, 2024 by Philip Trathan, Peter Fretwell

Like many polar animals, emperor penguin populations are challenging to monitor because of the species' life history and remoteness. Consequently, it has been difficult to establish its global status, a…

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A framework for estimating the anthropogenic part of Antarctica’s sea level contribution in a synthetic setting

11 March, 2024 by Alexander Bradley, Rosie Williams, David Bett, Paul Holland, Robert Arthern

The relative contributions of anthropogenic climate change and internal variability in sea level rise from the West Antarctic Ice Sheet are yet to be determined. Even the way to address…

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Observing change in pelagic animals as sampling methods shift: the case of Antarctic krill

8 March, 2024 by Alison Cleary, Anna Belcher, Cecilia Liszka, Eugene Murphy, Geraint Tarling, Jaume Forcada, Nadine Johnston, Philip Trathan, Ryan Saunders, Simeon Hill, Sophie Fielding

Understanding and managing the response of marine ecosystems to human pressures including climate change requires reliable large-scale and multi-decadal information on the state of key populations. These populations include the…

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Diesel−biodegradation and biosurfactant−production by Janthinobacterium lividum AQ5-29 and Pseudomonas fildesensis AQ5-41 isolated from Antarctic soil

1 March, 2024 by Peter Convey

Given the substantial diesel demand in Antarctic operations, the means of addressing ecological restoration following its inappropriate release are attracting attention from researchers. The Madrid Protocol mandates the use of…

Read more on Diesel−biodegradation and biosurfactant−production by Janthinobacterium lividum AQ5-29 and Pseudomonas fildesensis AQ5-41 isolated from Antarctic soil

Chorus wave power at the strong diffusion limit overcomes electron losses due to strong diffusion

27 February, 2024 by Richard Horne, Sarah Glauert, Thomas Daggitt

Earth’s radiation belts consist of high-energy charged particles trapped by Earth’s magnetic field. Strong pitch angle diffusion of electrons caused by wave-particle interaction in Earth’s radiation belts has primarily been…

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Synchronous retreat of Thwaites and Pine Island glaciers in response to external forcings in the presatellite era

26 February, 2024 by Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand, James Smith, James Kirkham, Kelly Hogan, Robert Larter

Today, relatively warm Circumpolar Deep Water is melting Thwaites Glacier at the base of its ice shelf and at the grounding zone, contributing to significant ice retreat. Accelerating ice loss…

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Southward migration of the zero-degree isotherm latitude over the Southern Ocean and the Antarctic Peninsula: cryospheric, biotic and societal implications

20 February, 2024 by Lloyd Peck

The seasonal movement of the zero-degree isotherm across the Southern Ocean and Antarctic Peninsula drives major changes in the physical and biological processes around maritime Antarctica. These include spatial and…

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Source variations in volatile contents of Bransfield Strait back-arc and Phoenix/West Scotia mid-ocean ridge lavas, northern Antarctic Peninsula

20 February, 2024 by Teal Riley

We present the first volatile contents (H2O, CO2, Cl, F, S) of young (< 6 Ma) submarine basaltic glasses from the Phoenix and West Scotia mid-ocean ridges and the Bransfield Strait…

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Evaporative controls on Antarctic precipitation: an ECHAM6 model study using innovative water tracer diagnostics

13 February, 2024 by Alison McLaren, Louise Sime, Qinggang Gao, Thomas Bracegirdle

Improving our understanding of the controls on Antarctic precipitation is critical for gaining insights into past and future polar and global environmental changes. Here we develop innovative water tracing diagnostics…

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Review of Satellite Remote Sensing and Unoccupied Aircraft Systems for Counting Wildlife on Land

8 February, 2024 by Ellen Bowler, Hannah Cubaynes, Marie Attard, Penny Clarke, Peter Fretwell, Richard Phillips

Although many medium-to-large terrestrial vertebrates are still counted by ground or aerial surveys, remote-sensing technologies and image analysis have developed rapidly in recent decades, offering improved accuracy and repeatability, lower…

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An outsider on the Antarctic Peninsula: A new record of the non-native moth Plodia interpunctella (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae)

5 February, 2024 by Peter Convey

We report the first record of the microlepidopteran Plodia interpunctella beyond the South Shetland Islands at the Chilean Yelcho scientific station (64°52′33.1428″ S; 63°35′1.9572″ W), Doumer Island, close to the…

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Assessing the trophic ecology of Southern Ocean Myctophidae: the added value of DNA metabarcoding

1 February, 2024 by Alison Cleary, Jennifer Freer, Martin Collins

Lanternfishes (Myctophidae) are key components of mesopelagic fish communities globally. In the Southern Ocean, incomplete information on myctophid diets limits our understanding of their energetics, interactions and wider ecosystem impact.…

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The Extraordinary March 2022 East Antarctica “Heat” Wave. Part I: Observations and Meteorological Drivers

1 February, 2024 by John King, Thomas Bracegirdle

Between 15 and 19 March 2022, East Antarctica experienced an exceptional heat wave with widespread 30°–40°C temperature anomalies across the ice sheet. This record-shattering event saw numerous monthly temperature records…

Read more on The Extraordinary March 2022 East Antarctica “Heat” Wave. Part I: Observations and Meteorological Drivers