Improving Species-Based Area Protection in Antarctica - data

Study Extent

This dataset describes the type localities of terrestrial and lacustrine animals, lichens, bryophytes and vascular plants occurring south of 60°S between 1753 and July, 2021.

Sampling

A comprehensive list of terrestrial and lacustrine multicellular groups that occur across the Antarctic continent and its offshore islands (south of 60°S) was compiled from primary scientific sources (Appendix S1) and a literature review. For the literature review, Web of Science was searched with Boolean strings. For example, for mites the string was (Antarctic* OR Antarctiq* OR Antartid*) AND (Acari* OR mite*) (see Appendix S1 in original paper for a full list of search terms). Titles and abstracts were screened for geographical and taxonomic information. Relevant references were those that included one or more species that occurred south of 60°S and were classified as a terrestrial or lacustrine animal, lichen, bryophyte, or vascular plant. We extracted taxonomic information (genus and species names) from relevant references to compile the species list. We back searched via Google Scholar for resources that cited any of the primary scientific sources (listed in Appendix S1 in original paper) to ensure newly described species or additions to checklists were captured. Type localities were then recorded for each species from large reviews where possible or from the original species descriptions. For some species, multiple localities were listed in the species description without an indication of which site was the type locality. In these cases, all localities south of 60°S were included in the Antarctic type localities data set (in total, 49 localities for 15 species with multiple localities). We classified type localities as unknown if 1) it was not possible to discern if the locality was north or south of 60°S (e.g., “latitudes 36°–61°” for the Antarctic petrel [Thalassoica antarctica] [Gmelin, 1789]), 2) no type locality was described for the species or 3) the type reference could not be accessed. For Antarctic species with type localities north of 60°S, we recorded locality data as given in the original source. For localities south of 60°S, additional steps were taken to sort records by the accuracy of their type locality descriptions. For localities provided with geographic coordinates to minutes or seconds, coordinates were checked by L.M.P. and R.I.L. and corrected if necessary (e.g., where east and west coordinates were incorrectly reversed in the original article). For type localities described by a place name, coordinates for these locations were extracted from the SCAR Composite Gazetteer of Antarctica (SCAR, 1992, updated 2014). Where coordinates from the SCAR Gazetteer were in the ocean, they were moved to the closest point on land for mainland localities or the midpoint of the island for island localities. The accuracy of place name records, however, varies widely (e.g., “Field Rock, MacRobertson Land,” which is <0.1 km2 vs. “Adélie Land,” which covers a >400,000 km2 area). We categorized place name records into high resolution (≤25 km2) or coarse-resolution (≤100km2, ≤500km2, ≤1000km2 and >1000km2) groups based on their descriptions in the SCAR Gazetteer to infer the specificity of these records.

Quality Control

All records were validated. Coordinates were verified to be in decimal latitude and decimal longitude and plotted on map to verify the actual geographical location corresponds to its locality. All scientific names were checked for typo and matched to the species information backbone of Worlds Register of Marine Species (http://marinespecies.org/) and LSID were assigned to each taxon as scientificNameID. Event date and time were converted into ISO 8601 whenever possible.

Method steps

1. Search primary scientific sources for species occurring south of 60°S
2. Literature search via Web of Science for each taxonomic group
3. Back search via Google Scholar for resources that cited any of the primary scientific sources
4. Extract taxonomic information for species occurring south of 60°S
5. Find and record type localities for species occurring south of 60°S
6. Record geographic coordinates for type localities
7. For type localities south of 60°S, sort into categories by specificity of records based on their descriptions in the SCAR Gazetteer

Terrestrial and lacustrine animals, lichens, bryophytes and vascular plants

1. Animalia
   rank: kingdom
2. Fungi
   rank: kingdom
3. Plantae
   rank: kingdom
4. Annelida
   rank: phylum
5. Arthropoda
   rank: phylum
6. Ascomycota
   rank: phylum
7. Bryophyta
   rank: phylum
8. Chordata
   rank: phylum
9. Marchantiophyta
   rank: phylum
10. Nematoda
    rank: phylum
11. Rotifera
    rank: phylum
12. Tardigrada
    rank: phylum
13. Tracheophyta
    rank: phylum

Antarctica