Biogeographic Assessment of Antarctic Coastal Habitats (2021-2022)
Polar ecosystems are changing rapidly amid global climate change. Near Palmer Station, Antarctica, weather patterns are shifting from cold, dry, predictable patterns toward a wetter, more variable environment, and species are responding accordingly. Scientists are studying aspects of this ecological shift at Palmer Station, targeting select species and processes for lab and field research.
New remote sensing techniques are helping to expand these efforts by integrating current studies into a more holistic context of regional biogeography. Unoccupied aircraft systems (UASs or drones) provide ultra-high-resolution spatial data to describe entire landscapes, capturing species presence, land cover and changes over time in this shifting polar ecosystem.
Teaming up with leading scientists, this project team integrated diverse remote sensing datasets with on-site data and expertise from Palmer Station to establish new baselines for current study and future comparisons of dynamic Antarctic coastal habitats. The project built on data collected at Palmer Station through the Duke Marine Robotics and Remote Sensing lab and the NSF Palmer Antarctica Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) site.
Learn more about this project team by viewing the team's video.
Timing
Fall 2021 – Summer 2022
Team Outputs
Gregory D. Larsen, Megan A. Cimino, Julian Dale, Ari S. Friedlaender, Marissa A. Goerke, David W. Johnston. Terrestrial Spatial Distribution and Summer Abundance of Antarctic Fur Seals (Arctocephalus gazella) Near Palmer Station, Antarctica, From Drone Surveys. 2025. Ecology and Evolution.
Megan A. Cimino, Gregory D. Larsen, David W. Johnston, Dulcinea V. Groff, Long-Term, Landscape- and Wind-Driven Snow Conditions Influence Adélie Penguin Colony Extinctions. 2025. Landscape Ecology.
Gregory D. Larsen, Hanna F. Varga, Donna L. Patterson-Fraser, David W. Johnston, Megan A. Cimino. Drone-Based Monitoring and Geomorphology of Southern Giant Petrel Nests Near Palmer Station, Western Antarctic Peninsula. 2024. Polar Biology.
Aerial data from drone surveys of coastal habitats on the West Antarctic Peninsula during austral summer: January–March 2020 and February–March 2019 (data repository)
Integrating Diverse Data to Evaluate Climate Change in Antarctica (2022 Fortin Foundation Bass Connections Virtual Showcase)
Integrating Diverse Data to Characterize Antarctic Biogeography (poster by Gregory Larsen, Akash Mullick, Chelsea Tuohy, Hanna Varga, Ziya Zhou, Zoe Wong, Aimi Wen, Catherine Brenner and David Johnston, presented at Fortin Foundation Bass Connections Showcase, Duke University, April 13, 2022)
A Timeline of Antarctic Exploration and Exploitation
Reflections
This Team in the News
Faculty Perspectives: David Johnston
Three Environmental Pathways Through Bass Connections
Meet the Members of the 2021-2022 Bass Connections Student Advisory Council
Summer Spotlights: How Four Ph.D. Students Advanced Their Research
Summer Research Snapshots 2021
See earlier related team, Ocean Evidence Gap Map (2021-2022).
Image: Antarctica: Open Water at McMurdo Station, by Eli Duke, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0