Ninth International Conference on Permafrost ... - IARC Research

Irreversible Damage? Human Activity, Cumulative Impacts, andRecovery Rates of the Antarctic Soil EnvironmentTanya A. O’NeillDepartment of Earth and Ocean Sciences, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New ZealandMegan R. BalksDepartment of Earth and Ocean Sciences, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New ZealandAntarctic soils are vulnerable to disturbance because oftheir physical properties and extremely slow natural recoveryrates due to the low temperatures and, in many regions, lowlevels of precipitation. As most human activities (tourismand national science programs) are concentrated in icefreeregions, the potential for human impacts on the soillandscape is great. Ice-free areas make up less than 0.4% ofthe total area of the continent, but are home to the majorityof the historic huts, research stations, and biologically-richsites, thereby attracting a short-sharp influx of tourists andscience personnel each summer. Consequently, as continentwidetourist numbers top 30,000 for the 2007/2008 summerseason (www.iaato.org), concerns about cumulative effects,and the ability of the most frequented sites to recover afterhuman disturbance, are also increasing.Current information is insufficient to accurately predicthow or to what extent the physical features at particular sitesmay be affected by repeat visits. This knowledge gap willimpede our ability to effectively manage sites of value, andmay consequently prove detrimental to the natural assets ofthe Antarctic ice-free regions.This poster introduces a doctoral study that seeks tobridge the gap by quantifying the cumulative impacts ofhuman activities on soils in the Ross Sea Region. Specificobjectives are to (1) investigate the accuracy of EIAs(Environmental Impact Assessment) at predicting impactsof human activities on the Antarctic soil environment; (2)quantify the relationship between soil vulnerability (basedon a soil vulnerability index), cumulative impact, and soilrates of recovery; and (3) elucidate a chronology of visiblechanges in the site “foot-print” at high human-impactedsites. Through this research we will establish baseline datarelating to soil recovery rates in the Antarctic, an area oflimited previous study. We will investigate sites where anEIA was conducted (such as the Greenpeace World Parkbase at Cape Evans, pipelines from McMurdo to Scott Baseand beyond, and the proposed wind generation site on CraterHill), and reassess the impacts on the soil environmentfollowing the completion of the activity to test the accuracyof EIA predictions. Such a detailed investigation into theeffectiveness of the current EIA scheme with respect toforecasted impacts has not been conducted before. Forour cumulative impact and recovery rate studies, we havedeliberately chosen sites where the nature and timing of thedisturbance have been well constrained, so recovery rates canbe quantified (such as reassessing the K123 excavation pitsand campsites in the Wright Valley, formed over three fieldseasons; and resurveying the 1992 Scott Base active-layerdisturbance site of Campbell and others). In year three of thisproject, we will apply our Ross Sea Region methodologiesto sites in the Antarctic Peninsula, where tourism and humandisturbance is of an exponentially higher magnitude. Keyheavily visited sites to investigate could include but not belimited to Barrientos Island (Aitcho Islands group), HannahPoint, Livingston Island, and Baily Head, Deception Island.Such comparisons could be used to model the likely impactsof the Ross Sea Region to increased tourist loading andassociated pressures.Our approach will begin to provide the basis for predictinghow the Antarctic terrestrial environment will react tofuture human disturbance and climate change. It will assistenvironmental managers and Antarctic decision makers byallowing better predictive and managerial capability. Thereis the potential to document impacts of global warming onthe terrestrial environment (soil and permafrost degradation),particularly in the warming Antarctic Peninsula. In the longerterm there is the potential to produce a continent-wide mapof ice-free regions using soil environment vulnerabilityclasses based on cumulative effects and rates of recovery.This would involve the international coordination ofresources to produce a GIS overlay of spatial informationranking soil vulnerability. Improved soil vulnerability datacould be used by decision makers to identify or redefineAntarctic Specially Managed Areas (ASMA), AntarcticSpecially Protected Areas (ASPA) (assist in developingor refining site specific guidelines), areas that are moreresilient, could potentially have preference over others onthe tourism itinerary, and identify others to focus futuremonitoring efforts. This information would be invaluable tothe Committee for Environmental Protection (CEP) and aidin their Comprehensive Environmental Evaluation (CEE)assessment.It is hoped that advancement of knowledge in the field ofcumulative impacts will improve the highly criticized area ofcumulative impact monitoring within the EIA system of theMadrid Protocol (1991). It is also hoped that this study willcontribute to a more comprehensive tourism managementsystem that will better incorporate tourism activities into thecurrent EIA system. which coupled with an internationallystandardized and quality EIA prior to an activity commencing,and coordinated environmental monitoring post-event, willensure all possible environmental protection mechanismsare in place to preserve the integrity of the natural assets ofthe Antarctic ice-free regions.229