Glacier retreat on South Georgia and implications for the spread of rats
Abstract Using archival photography and satellite imagery, we have analysed the rates of advance or retreat of 103 coastal glaciers on South Georgia from the 1950s to the present. Ninety-seven percent of these glaciers have retreated over the period for which observations are available. The average...
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crcambridgeupr:10.1017/s0954102010000064 2024-06-23T07:48:03+00:00 Glacier retreat on South Georgia and implications for the spread of rats Cook, A.J. Poncet, S. Cooper, A.P.R. Herbert, D.J. Christie, D. 2010 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0954102010000064 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0954102010000064 en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms Antarctic Science volume 22, issue 3, page 255-263 ISSN 0954-1020 1365-2079 journal-article 2010 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/s0954102010000064 2024-06-12T04:05:07Z Abstract Using archival photography and satellite imagery, we have analysed the rates of advance or retreat of 103 coastal glaciers on South Georgia from the 1950s to the present. Ninety-seven percent of these glaciers have retreated over the period for which observations are available. The average rate of retreat has increased from 8 Ma -1 in the 1950s to 35 Ma -1 at present. The largest retreats have all taken place along the north-east coast, where retreat rates have increased to an average of 60 Ma -1 at present, but those on the south-west coast have also been steadily retreating since the 1950s. These data, along with environmental information about South Georgia, are included in a new Geographic Information System (GIS) of the island. By combining glacier change data with the present distribution of both endemic and invasive species we have identified areas where there is an increased risk of rat invasion to unoccupied coastal regions that are currently protected by glacial barriers. This risk has significant implications for the surrounding ecosystem, in particular depletion in numbers of important breeding populations of ground-nesting birds on the island. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarctic Science Cambridge University Press Antarctic Science 22 3 255 263 |
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Open Polar |
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Cambridge University Press |
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crcambridgeupr |
language |
English |
description |
Abstract Using archival photography and satellite imagery, we have analysed the rates of advance or retreat of 103 coastal glaciers on South Georgia from the 1950s to the present. Ninety-seven percent of these glaciers have retreated over the period for which observations are available. The average rate of retreat has increased from 8 Ma -1 in the 1950s to 35 Ma -1 at present. The largest retreats have all taken place along the north-east coast, where retreat rates have increased to an average of 60 Ma -1 at present, but those on the south-west coast have also been steadily retreating since the 1950s. These data, along with environmental information about South Georgia, are included in a new Geographic Information System (GIS) of the island. By combining glacier change data with the present distribution of both endemic and invasive species we have identified areas where there is an increased risk of rat invasion to unoccupied coastal regions that are currently protected by glacial barriers. This risk has significant implications for the surrounding ecosystem, in particular depletion in numbers of important breeding populations of ground-nesting birds on the island. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Cook, A.J. Poncet, S. Cooper, A.P.R. Herbert, D.J. Christie, D. |
spellingShingle |
Cook, A.J. Poncet, S. Cooper, A.P.R. Herbert, D.J. Christie, D. Glacier retreat on South Georgia and implications for the spread of rats |
author_facet |
Cook, A.J. Poncet, S. Cooper, A.P.R. Herbert, D.J. Christie, D. |
author_sort |
Cook, A.J. |
title |
Glacier retreat on South Georgia and implications for the spread of rats |
title_short |
Glacier retreat on South Georgia and implications for the spread of rats |
title_full |
Glacier retreat on South Georgia and implications for the spread of rats |
title_fullStr |
Glacier retreat on South Georgia and implications for the spread of rats |
title_full_unstemmed |
Glacier retreat on South Georgia and implications for the spread of rats |
title_sort |
glacier retreat on south georgia and implications for the spread of rats |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
2010 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0954102010000064 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0954102010000064 |
genre |
Antarctic Science |
genre_facet |
Antarctic Science |
op_source |
Antarctic Science volume 22, issue 3, page 255-263 ISSN 0954-1020 1365-2079 |
op_rights |
https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/s0954102010000064 |
container_title |
Antarctic Science |
container_volume |
22 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
255 |
op_container_end_page |
263 |
_version_ |
1802638452657750016 |