People and Antarctica

Discovery of Antarctica

Antarctica was the last continent to be visited by humans and exploration of the continent only got underway in the 20th Century. Initial expeditions were driven by exploration of new land, including the wish to cross the continent and reach the geographical south pole by explorers like Roald Amundsen, Robert Falcon Scott and Ernest Shackleton. With the invention of the harpoon and sightings of large whale populations around the Antarctic continent, a whaling industry developed rapidly and this continued until the 1970's. Meanwhile, many countries considered the frozen continent as a vital strategic, military, location and a potential place for various resources. After many claims from various nations on parts of Antarctica, 12 countries agreed in the Antarctic Treaty System (1961) to ensure that Antarctica could remain as a scientific preserve, establishing freedom of scientific investigation and banning military activities. Since then many other countries have become signatories to the Antarctic Treaty System to ensure conservation of the last wild place on Earth.

Who owns Antarctica?

Antarctica belongs to everyone and no one.

Under construction

Antarctic conservation

Under construction

Threat of non-native organisms

Introduction of non-native species (aliens) are considered one of the largest threats to Antarctic terrestrial biodiversity. Mosses and lichens, the main primary producers in terrestrial Antarctica, are typically slow growing and especially so in the cold and dry environments of Antarctica and cannot compete well with rapid growing vascular plants that dominate temperate regions. Accidental introduction of vascular plants, such as grasses and shrubs from temperate regions to Antarctica, may lead to native mosses and lichens being outcompeted by rapid growing vascular plants. This destroys the unique species combinations existing in Antarctica and replaces them with plant communities that are already widespread across Earth.

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A selection of resources on Antarctic social aspects

Ortega, E.-L. A., Makanse, Y. and Bastmeijer, K. 2024. Rights of Nature and the Antarctic: philosophical considerations, possible modalities, and relations with the Antarctic Treaty System. The Polar Journal, 14, 514-534.

Leihy, R., Coetzee, B., Morgan, F., Raymond, B., Shaw, J., Terauds, A., Bastmeijer, K. and Chown, S. 2020. Antarctica’s wilderness fails to capture continent’s biodiversity. Nature, 583, 1-5.

Huiskes, A. H. L., Gremmen, N. J. M., Bergstrom, D. M., Frenot, Y., Hughes, K. A., Imura, S., Kiefer, K., Lebouvier, M., Lee, J. E., Tsujimoto, M., Ware, C., Van de Vijver, B. and Chown, S. L. 2014. Aliens in Antarctica: Assessing transfer of plant propagules by human visitors to reduce invasion risk. Biological Conservation, 171, 278-284.

Frenot, Y., Chown, S. L., Whinam, J., Selkirk, P. M., Convey, P., Skotnicki, M. and Bergstrom, D. M. 2005. Biological invasions in the Antarctic: extent, impacts and implications Biological reviews, 80, 45-72.

Many of the above documents are freely available from the publisher websites, but if not, please feel free to reach out to the authors for a copy