SGER: The Impacts of Tourism on Wildlife Populations at Palmer Station, Antarctic Peninsula

9320115自20世纪60年代末以来，南极洲的弗雷泽旅游业一直在稳步增长。尽管人们越来越关注人类活动可能对野生动物种群产生负面影响，但旨在解决这一问题的研究一直缺乏。这项探索性研究小额赠款的目的是研究旅游业对南极半岛托格森岛阿德利企鹅种群影响的耦合研究的可行性，该地区已经存在两个长期的生态系统导向项目。这种方法的基本原理是基于这样一个前提，即理解和定义生态系统固有的自然变异性是识别和解释人类活动影响的必要先决条件。通过采用相同的技术和方法，本研究试图在游客访问过的地点开发相同的、一致的数据库，以与作为两个生态系统研究的一部分在未游客访问过的地点开发的数据库进行比较。因此，后者将提供辨别和解释前者所需的背景生态系统数据。这一安排如果成功，很可能使拟议的研究成为处理人类对南极洲影响的关键研究之一，并成为今后类似性质研究的一个模式。该奖项将有助于履行美国国家科学基金会根据1978年南极保护法案对环境保护的责任和义务。* * *

9320115 Fraser Tourism in Antarctica has been showing a steady increase since the late 1960's. Despite rising concern that human activity may negatively impact wildlife populations, studies designed to address this issue have been lacking. The purpose of this Small Grant for Exploratory Research is to examine the feasibility of coupling research on the effects of tourism on Adelie Penguin populations on Torgersen island, Antarctic Peninsula, with two long-term ecosystem-oriented programs already in existence in the area. The rationale for this approach is based on the premise that understanding and defining the natural variability inherent in the ecosystem is a necessary prerequisite for identifying and interpreting the effects of human activity. By employing identical technologies and methodologies, this study seeks to develop identical, coincident databases at sites visited by tourists to compare with databases developed as part of the two ecosystem studies at sites not visited by tourists. The latter will thus provide the background ecosystem data needed to discern and interpret the former. This arrangement, if successful, is likely to establish the proposed research as one of the key studies addressing human impacts in Antarctica, and serve as a model for future research of a similar nature. The award will help fulfill the National Science Foundation's responsibility and obligations for environmental protection under the Antarctic Conservation Act of 1978. ***