Antarctic marine ecosystems under pressure: protection needs action locally and globally at COP26

Andrew Constable and Jess Melbourne-Thomas are co-convenors of the Marine Ecosystem Assessment for the Southern Ocean (MEASO) program under the auspices of the IMBeR program Integrating Climate and Ecosystem Dynamics in the Southern Ocean.  They presented as part of an event on “Antarctic marine ecosystems under pressure: protection needs action locally and globally” organised by the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) at the UNFCCC COP26 and supported by the Southern Ocean Observing System.  

This presentation was supported by:

• The Steering Committee and Synthesis teams of the Marine Ecosystem Assessment for the Southern Ocean
• Eav Brennan (for the cartoon of change)
• Lisa Roberts (for the infographic on cultural connections: LRoberts et al. 2021. Enabling Enduring Evidence-Based Policy for the Southern Ocean Through Cultural Arts Practices. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 9. #10.3389/fevo.2021.616089)
• Denisse Fierro Arcos (Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia), Tilo Ziehn (CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere, Aspendale, Victoria, Australia) (for providing data used in the animations of change in the Southern Ocean from the ACCESS ESM1.5)
• ICED, SCAR, SOOS

Further results of MEASO can be found in a Frontiers research topic at https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/10606/marine-ecosystem-assessment-for-the-southern-ocean-meeting-the-challenge-for-conserving-earth-ecosys