ANTARCTIC SPECIALLY PROTECTED AREA (ASPA) NO. 105 BEAUFORT ISLAND, McMURDO SOUND, ROSS SEA

• Main Authors: Beaufort Isl, As Specially
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Antarctic; Ross Sea; McMurdo Sound; New Zealand; Beaufort Island; Antarc*; Aptenodytes forsteri; Catharacta maccormicki; Emperor penguins; Pygoscelis adeliae
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.693.7834; http://www.nsf.gov/geo/plr/antarct/aca/nsf01151/aca2_spa105.pdf

Protected Area No. 5) after a proposal by New Zealand on the grounds that it “contains substantial and varied avifauna, that it is one of the most important breeding grounds in the region, and that it should be protected to preserve the natural ecological system as a reference area”. The Area has been set aside primarily to protect the site’s ecological values and these reasons for long-term special protection still apply. The island comprises a variety of terrain and habitats: gently sloping ice-free ground with summer ponds and small meltwater streams draining to the coast; moderately sloping ice fields covering much of the west side of the island; and steep, rugged cliffs on the eastern slopes. Recent investigations indicate the avifauna is not as varied as first thought, but there exists a large Adélie penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae) colony, a small breeding colony of Emperor penguins (Aptenodytes forsteri), and several breeding colonies of South polar skua (Catharacta maccormicki). The boundaries of the Area, which previously excluded the Emperor colony, have been extended to include fast-ice occupied by breeding birds. Site visits in January 1995 and 1997 discovered and described a significant area of vegetation previously unrecorded on an ice-cored moraine bench of up to 50 m wide and