Southern Ocean Action Plan (2021-2030) in support of the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development

In 2017, the United Nations proclaimed a Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (hereafter referred to as the UN Ocean Decade) from 2021 until 2030 to support efforts to reverse the cycle of decline in ocean health. To achieve this ambitious goal, this initiative aims to gather ocean stakeholders worldwide behind a common framework that will ensure ocean science can fully support countries in creating improved conditions for sustainable development of the world’s oceans. The initiative strives to strengthen the international cooperation needed to develop the scientific research and innovative technologies that can connect ocean science with the needs of society at the global scale. Based on the recommendations in the Implementation Plan of the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (Version 2.0, July 2021), the Southern Ocean community engaged in a stakeholder - oriented process to develop the Southern Ocean Action Plan. The Southern Ocean process engaged a broad community, which includes the scientific research community, the business and industry sector, and governance and management bodies. As part of this global effort, the Southern Ocean Task Force identified the needs of the Southern Ocean community to address the challenges related to the unique environmental characteristics and governance structure of the Southern Ocean. Through this community-driven process, we identified synergies within the Southern Ocean community and beyond in order to elaborate an Action Plan that provides a framework for Southern Ocean stakeholders to formulate and develop tangible actions and deliverables that support the UN Ocean Decade vision. Through the publication of this Action Plan, the Southern Ocean Task Force aims to mobilise the Southern Ocean community and inspire all stakeholders to seek engagement and leverage opportunities to deliver innovative solutions that maintain and foster the unique conditions of the Southern Ocean. This framework provides an initial roadmap to strengthen links between science, industry and policy, as well as to encourage internationally collaborative activities in order to address existing gaps in our knowledge and data coverage

Global political responsibility for the conservation of albatrosses and large petrels

Migratory marine species cross political borders and enter the high seas, where the lack of an effective global management framework for biodiversity leaves them vulnerable to threats. Here, we combine 10,108 tracks from 5775 individual birds at 87 sites with data on breeding population sizes to estimate the relative year-round importance of national jurisdictions and high seas areas for 39 species of albatrosses and large petrels. Populations from every country made extensive use of the high seas, indicating the stake each country has in the management of biodiversity in international waters. We quantified the links among national populations of these threatened seabirds and the regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs) which regulate fishing in the high seas. This work makes explicit the relative responsibilities that each country and RFMO has for the management of shared biodiversity, providing invaluable information for the conservation and management of migratory species in the marine realm

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

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 pelagic animals that support ecosystem services including carbon export and fisheries. The use of research vessels to collect information using scientific nets and acoustics is being replaced with technologies such as autonomous moorings, gliders, and meta-genetics. Paradoxically, these newer methods sample pelagic populations at ever-smaller spatial scales, and ecological change might go undetected in the time needed to build up large-scale, long time series. These global-scale issues are epitomised by Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba), which is concentrated in rapidly warming areas, exports substantial quantities of carbon and supports an expanding fishery, but opinion is divided on how resilient their stocks are to climatic change. Based on a workshop of 137 krill experts we identify the challenges of observing climate change impacts with shifting sampling methods and suggest three tractable solutions. These are to: improve overlap and calibration of new with traditional methods; improve communication to harmonise, link and scale up the capacity of new but localised sampling programs; and expand opportunities from other research platforms and data sources, including the fishing industry. Contrasting evidence for both change and stability in krill stocks illustrates how the risks of false negative and false positive diagnoses of change are related to the temporal and spatial scale of sampling. Given the uncertainty about how krill are responding to rapid warming we recommend a shift towards a fishery management approach that prioritises monitoring of stock status and can adapt to variability and change

Diet of grey-headed albatrosses at the Diego Ramirez Islands, Chile: ecological implications

The diet of grey-headed albatrosses at Diego Ramirez was analysed and compared to that of the sympatric black-browed albatross. Diet composition was inferred from an analysis of prey hard parts present in 103 chick regurgitates obtained during breeding seasons 2000, 2001 and 2002. The squid Martialia hyadesi predominated in the diet samples in 2001 and 2002 (89% and 81% of reconstituted mass), but was absent from the 2000 samples. Reconstituted mean mass per sample in 2000 was significantly lower than in 2001 and 2002. Chick growth rate during 2000 was also the lowest recorded. This suggests that M hyadesi plays an important role in the breeding performance of grey-headed albatrosses at Diego Ramirez. Low presence of M hyadesi in grey-headed albatrosses' diet at South Georgia in 2000, a year with significant low breeding success, suggests ocean-wide processes affecting the availability of this prey to both populations simultaneously. Overlap in diet composition, and inferred feeding areas, between the sympatric albatross species at Diego Ramirez was minimal. Grey-headed albatrosses fed mainly on species associated with the Antarctic Polar Front, whereas black-browed albatrosses consumed benthopelagic species frequently caught in fishing operations in southern Chile

Oxidative stress and spermatozoa’s function

El estrés oxidativo está determinado por el balance entre la generación de especies de oxígeno reactivas (ROS - Reactives Species Oxigen) y la degradación de las mismas dentro de los tejidos. Las dos principales fuentes de generación de ROS en el tracto reproductivo masculino provienen de los espermatozoides inmaduros, inmóviles y/o morfológicamente anormales, de los leucocitos infiltrados en el semen y de los espermatozoides morfológicamente normales pero funcionalmente anormales. Uno de los efectos de los ROS es la alteración de la membrana celular por el proceso denominado peroxidación lipídica (PL), proceso fisiopatológico que tiene como resultado una cascada de profundos cambios degradativos que afectan la organización y función de la membrana del espermatozoide humano. Los espermatozoides son más susceptibles al daño peroxidativo de los ROS porque poseen altas concentraciones de ácidos grasos polinsaturados. Los efectos que las ROS ejercen sobre las células espermáticas son múltiples y muy controversiales, por lo que en este artículo se revisan algunos aspectos bioquímicos sobre la generación de ROS, métodos de diagnóstico y patologías [email protected]@[email protected] stress is determined by the balance between the generation and degradation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) within the tissues. The ROS are produced by a variety of semen components, including immotile or morphologically abnormal spermatozoa, leukocytes, and morphologically normal but functionally abnormal spermatozoa. One the effects of excessive ROS production, is the cellular membrane alteration, due to lipid peroxidation (LPO) which is a very important pathophysiological process occurring in numerous diseases and stress conditions, and it usually results in a cascade of profound degradative processes, affecting the organization and function of biological membranes. The membranes of the human spermatozoon contain a high concentration of polyunsaturated fatty acids, therefore they are susceptible to the lipid peroxidation damage. ROS have a variety of affects on the spermatic cells. This is a very controversial subject, and it is one of the reasons for this article, reviewing some of the biochemical aspects related to ROS production, diagnostic methods, and associated pathologies to these compounds

Habitat preference, accessibility, and competition limit the global distribution of breeding black-browed albatrosses

Telemetry methods and remote sensing now make it possible to record the spatial usage of wide-ranging marine animals and the biophysical characteristics of their pelagic habitats. Furthermore, recent statistical advances mean that such data can be used to test ecological hypotheses and estimate species' distributions. Black-browed Albatrosses Thalassarche melanophrys are highly mobile marine predators with a circumpolar breeding and foraging distribution in the Southern Hemisphere. Although they remain relatively abundant, increased fisheries bycatch has led to their listing as endangered by conservation bodies. We satellite-tracked 163 breeding Black-browed Albatrosses and eight closely related Campbell Albatrosses T. impavida from nine colonies. We then quantified habitat usage, and modeled population-level spatial distribution at spatiotemporal scales >50 km and 1 month, as a function of habitat accessibility, habitat preference, and intraspecific competition, using mixed-effects generalized additive models (GAMM). During incubation, birds foraged over a wider area than in the post-brood chick-rearing period, when they are more time constrained. Throughout breeding, the order of habitat preference of Black-browed Albatrosses was for neritic (0-500 m), shelf-break and upper shelf-slope (500 1000 m), and then oceanic (>1000 m) waters. Black-browed Albatrosses also preferred areas with steeper (>3 degrees) bathymetric relief and, in addition, during incubation, warmer sea surface temperatures (peak preference similar to 16 degrees C). Although this suggests specialization in neritic habitats, incubation-stage Black-browed Albatrosses from South Georgia also foraged extensively in oceanic waters, preferring areas with high eddy kinetic energy (>250 cm(2)/s(2)), especially the Brazil-Malvinas Confluence, a region of intense mesoscale turbulence. During chick-rearing, this species had a more southerly distribution, and following the seasonal retreat of sea ice, birds from some populations utilized neritic polar waters. Campbell Albatrosses showed similar bathymetric preferences but also preferred positive sea level anomalies. Black-browed Albatross foraging areas were partially spatially segregated with respect to colony and region, with birds preferring locations distant from neighboring colonies, presumably in order to reduce competition between parapatric conspecifics. At the global scale, the greatest concentrations of breeding Black-browed Albatrosses are in southern South American neritic, shelf-break, and shelf-slope waters. These regions also hold large fisheries and should therefore be a priority for introduction of bycatch mitigation measures

Using Forecasting Methods to Incorporate Social, Economic, and Political Considerations Into Marine Protected Area Planning

As the global environmental crisis grows in scale and complexity, conservation professionals and policymakers are increasingly called upon to make decisions despite high levels of uncertainty, limited resources, and insufficient data. Global efforts to protect biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction require substantial international cooperation and negotiation, both of which are characterized by unpredictability and high levels of uncertainty. Here we build on recent studies to adapt forecasting techniques from the fields of hazard prediction, risk assessment, and intelligence analysis to forecast the likelihood of marine protected area (MPA) designation in the Southern Ocean. We used two questionnaires, feedback, and a discussion round in a Delphi-style format expert elicitation to obtain forecasts, and collected data on specific biophysical, socioeconomic, geopolitical, and scientific factors to assess how they shape and influence these forecasts. We found that areas further north along the Western Antarctic Peninsula were considered to be less likely to be designated than areas further south, and that geopolitical factors, such as global politics or events, and socioeconomic factors, such as the presence of fisheries, were the key determinants of whether an area was predicted to be more or less likely to be designated as an MPA. Forecasting techniques can be used to inform protected area design, negotiation, and implementation in highly politicized situations where data is lacking by aiding with spatial prioritization, targeting scarce resources, and predicting the success of various spatial arrangements, interventions, or courses of action

Appendix B. Probability of the presence of Black-browed Albatrosses satellite-tracked from northwest South Georgia during incubation, predicted using the fixed effects part of model I, fitted to data from all populations and model III, fitted to data from northwest South Georgia alone.

Probability of the presence of Black-browed Albatrosses satellite-tracked from northwest South Georgia during incubation, predicted using the fixed effects part of model I, fitted to data from all populations and model III, fitted to data from northwest South Georgia alone