The retrospective analysis of Antarctic tracking data project

• Published in: Scientific Data
• Main Authors: Ropert-Coudert, Yan, Van de Putte, Anton P., Reisinger, Ryan R., Bornemann, Horst, Charrassin, Jean-Benoit, Costa, Daniel P., Danis, Bruno, Huckstadt, Luis A ., Huckstadt, Luis A., Jonsen, Ian D., Lea, Mary-Anne, Thompson, David, Torres, Leigh G., Trathan, Philip N., Wotherspoon, Simon, Ainley, David G., Alderman, Rachael, Andrews-Goff, Virginia, Arthur, Ben, Ballard, Grant, Bengtson, John, Bester, Marthan Nieuwoudt, Blix, Arnoldus Schytte, Boehme, Lars, Bost, Charles-Andre, Boveng, Peter, Cleeland, Jaimie, Constantine, Rochelle, Crawford, Robert J.M., Rosa, Luciano Dalla, De Bruyn, P.J. Nico, Delord, Karine, Descamps, Sebastien, Double, Mike, Emmerson, Louise, Fedak, Mike, Friedlaender, Ari, Gales, Nick, Goebel, Mike, Goetz, Kimberly T., Guinet, Christophe, Goldsworthy, Simon D., Harcourt, Rob, Hinke, Jefferson T., Jerosch, Kerstin, Kato, Akiko, Kerry, Knowles R., Kirkwood, Roger, Kooyman, Gerald L., Kovacs, Kit M.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Nature Publishing Group 2020
• Subjects: Tracking data; Antarctic; Conservation biology; Ecosystem ecology; Retrospective analysis of Antarctic tracking data (RAATD); Meso-predators; Top-predators; Areas of ecological significance; Southern Ocean; The Antarctic; Argentina; Antarc*; Australian Antarctic Program; Dirección Nacional del Antártico; Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2263/79385; https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-020-0406-x

The Retrospective Analysis of Antarctic Tracking Data (RAATD) is a Scientific Committee for Antarctic Research project led jointly by the Expert Groups on Birds and Marine Mammals and Antarctic Biodiversity Informatics, and endorsed by the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources. RAATD consolidated tracking data for multiple species of Antarctic meso- and top-predators to identify Areas of Ecological Significance. These datasets and accompanying syntheses provide a greater understanding of fundamental ecosystem processes in the Southern Ocean, support modelling of predator distributions under future climate scenarios and create inputs that can be incorporated into decision making processes by management authorities. In this data paper, we present the compiled tracking data from research groups that have worked in the Antarctic since the 1990s. The data are publicly available through biodiversity.aq and the Ocean Biogeographic Information System. The archive includes tracking data from over 70 contributors across 12 national Antarctic programs, and includes data from 17 predator species, 4060 individual animals, and over 2.9 million observed locations. Supplementary Figure S1: Filtered location data (black) and tag deployment locations (red) for each species. Maps are Lambert Azimuthal projections extending from 90° S to 20° S. Supplementary Table S1: Names and coordinates of the major study sites in the Southern Ocean and on the Antarctic Continent where tracking devices were deployed on the selected species (indicated by their 4-letter codes in the last column). Online Table 1: Description of fields (column names) in the metadata and data files. Supranational committees and organisations including the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research Life Science Group and BirdLife International. National institutions and foundations, including but not limited to Argentina (Dirección Nacional del Antártico), Australia (Australian Antarctic program; Australian Research Council; Sea ...