A satellite-derived baseline of photosynthetic life across Antarctica
Terrestrial vegetation communities across Antarctica are characteristically sparse, presenting a challenge for mapping their occurrence using remote sensing at the continent scale. At present there is no continent-wide baseline record of Antarctic vegetation, and large-scale area estimates remain un...
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Nature Research
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ftnerc:oai:nora.nerc.ac.uk:536526 2024-09-15T17:46:41+00:00 A satellite-derived baseline of photosynthetic life across Antarctica Walshaw, Charlotte V. Gray, Andrew Fretwell, Peter T. Convey, Peter Davey, Matthew P. Johnson, Joanne S. Colesie, Claudia 2024-08-06 text http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/536526/ https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/536526/1/s41561-024-01492-4.pdf https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-024-01492-4 en eng Nature Research https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/536526/1/s41561-024-01492-4.pdf Walshaw, Charlotte V.; Gray, Andrew; Fretwell, Peter T. orcid:0000-0002-1988-5844 Convey, Peter orcid:0000-0001-8497-9903 Davey, Matthew P.; Johnson, Joanne S. orcid:0000-0003-4537-4447 Colesie, Claudia. 2024 A satellite-derived baseline of photosynthetic life across Antarctica. Nature Geoscience, 2024. 16, pp. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-024-01492-4 <https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-024-01492-4> cc_by_4 Publication - Article PeerReviewed 2024 ftnerc https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-024-01492-4 2024-08-13T23:39:30Z Terrestrial vegetation communities across Antarctica are characteristically sparse, presenting a challenge for mapping their occurrence using remote sensing at the continent scale. At present there is no continent-wide baseline record of Antarctic vegetation, and large-scale area estimates remain unquantified. With local vegetation distribution shifts now apparent and further predicted in response to environmental change across Antarctica, it is critical to establish a baseline to document these changes. Here we present a 10 m-resolution map of photosynthetic life in terrestrial and cryospheric habitats across the entire Antarctic continent, maritime archipelagos and islands south of 60° S. Using Sentinel-2 imagery (2017–2023) and spectral indices, we detected terrestrial green vegetation (vascular plants, bryophytes, green algae) and lichens across ice-free areas, and cryospheric green snow algae across coastal snowpacks. The detected vegetation occupies a total area of 44.2 km2, with over half contained in the South Shetland Islands, altogether contributing just 0.12% of the total ice-free area included in the analysis. Due to methodological constraints, dark-coloured lichens and cyanobacterial mats were excluded from the study. This vegetation map improves the geospatial data available for vegetation across Antarctica, and provides a tool for future conservation planning and large-scale biogeographic assessments. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica South Shetland Islands Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive Nature Geoscience 17 8 755 762 |
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Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive |
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English |
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Terrestrial vegetation communities across Antarctica are characteristically sparse, presenting a challenge for mapping their occurrence using remote sensing at the continent scale. At present there is no continent-wide baseline record of Antarctic vegetation, and large-scale area estimates remain unquantified. With local vegetation distribution shifts now apparent and further predicted in response to environmental change across Antarctica, it is critical to establish a baseline to document these changes. Here we present a 10 m-resolution map of photosynthetic life in terrestrial and cryospheric habitats across the entire Antarctic continent, maritime archipelagos and islands south of 60° S. Using Sentinel-2 imagery (2017–2023) and spectral indices, we detected terrestrial green vegetation (vascular plants, bryophytes, green algae) and lichens across ice-free areas, and cryospheric green snow algae across coastal snowpacks. The detected vegetation occupies a total area of 44.2 km2, with over half contained in the South Shetland Islands, altogether contributing just 0.12% of the total ice-free area included in the analysis. Due to methodological constraints, dark-coloured lichens and cyanobacterial mats were excluded from the study. This vegetation map improves the geospatial data available for vegetation across Antarctica, and provides a tool for future conservation planning and large-scale biogeographic assessments. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Walshaw, Charlotte V. Gray, Andrew Fretwell, Peter T. Convey, Peter Davey, Matthew P. Johnson, Joanne S. Colesie, Claudia |
spellingShingle |
Walshaw, Charlotte V. Gray, Andrew Fretwell, Peter T. Convey, Peter Davey, Matthew P. Johnson, Joanne S. Colesie, Claudia A satellite-derived baseline of photosynthetic life across Antarctica |
author_facet |
Walshaw, Charlotte V. Gray, Andrew Fretwell, Peter T. Convey, Peter Davey, Matthew P. Johnson, Joanne S. Colesie, Claudia |
author_sort |
Walshaw, Charlotte V. |
title |
A satellite-derived baseline of photosynthetic life across Antarctica |
title_short |
A satellite-derived baseline of photosynthetic life across Antarctica |
title_full |
A satellite-derived baseline of photosynthetic life across Antarctica |
title_fullStr |
A satellite-derived baseline of photosynthetic life across Antarctica |
title_full_unstemmed |
A satellite-derived baseline of photosynthetic life across Antarctica |
title_sort |
satellite-derived baseline of photosynthetic life across antarctica |
publisher |
Nature Research |
publishDate |
2024 |
url |
http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/536526/ https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/536526/1/s41561-024-01492-4.pdf https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-024-01492-4 |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica South Shetland Islands |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica South Shetland Islands |
op_relation |
https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/536526/1/s41561-024-01492-4.pdf Walshaw, Charlotte V.; Gray, Andrew; Fretwell, Peter T. orcid:0000-0002-1988-5844 Convey, Peter orcid:0000-0001-8497-9903 Davey, Matthew P.; Johnson, Joanne S. orcid:0000-0003-4537-4447 Colesie, Claudia. 2024 A satellite-derived baseline of photosynthetic life across Antarctica. Nature Geoscience, 2024. 16, pp. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-024-01492-4 <https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-024-01492-4> |
op_rights |
cc_by_4 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-024-01492-4 |
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Nature Geoscience |
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17 |
container_issue |
8 |
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755 |
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762 |
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1810495004620095488 |