Research Coordination Network

The Ross Sea region MPA, Antarctica—the world’s largest MPA. This MPA has three zones: a General Protection Zone (indicated by i, ii, iii), which is closed to commercial fishing, and a Special Research Zone (SRZ) and a Krill Research Zone (KRZ), which both allow limited commercial fishing. The Ross Sea supports a vast array of marine life, including a quarter of the world’s Emperor Penguins and a third of the Adélie Penguins. Pictures show clockwise from upper left: Antarctic toothfish; Minke whale; Emperor Penguins; Phytoplankton, here showing Phaeocystis antarctica; Weddell Seal; and Adélie Penguins. All photos copyright John B.Weller, except for toothfish photo by Paul Cziko.

Research Coordination Network for the Ross Sea region Marine Protected Area

To fulfill their conservation potential and provide safeguards for biodiversity, marine protected areas (MPAs) need coordinated research and monitoring for informed management through effective evaluation of ecosystem dynamics. However, coordination is challenging, often due to knowledge gaps caused by inadequate access to data and resources, compounded by insufficient communication between scientists and managers. We are using the world’s largest MPA in the Ross Sea, Antarctica as a model system to create an international interdisciplinary network supporting research and monitoring that could be implemented in other remote, large-scale international MPAs.

To formalize this network, we have received funding from the United States National Science Foundation to build a Research Coordination Network which will support research, monitoring, and science/policy integration in large-scale remote international MPAs using the Ross Sea region MPA as a model system. The Research Coordination Network intends to network three key components: (i) policy engagement, (ii) community partner engagement, and (iii) integrated science comprising three themes: data science and cyberinfrastructure; biophysical modeling; and observations that include monitoring and process studies.

In 2027, the Ross Sea region MPA will have its first 10-year review, presenting a critical opportunity to coordinate across the science, policy, and other partner communities to ensure the 2027 review (and subsequent reviews) are well grounded in robust scientific data, analyses, and streamlined inputs into policy. Notably, many Antarctic research, policy and conservation groups exist, some are even already focused on the Ross Sea, but there is not yet a formalized framework for coordination. Hence, the need for a Research Coordination Network which can formalize connections between policy, research, and other communities focused specifically on research and monitoring of the Ross Sea region MPA.

Through this Network, we seek to provide an example of how to bring together diverse interdisciplinary participants towards an effective, integrated science-policy collaboration. We envision that this proposed Research Coordination Network can improve MPA implementation by generating policy-relevant science, which can in turn improve MPA effectiveness in the Ross Sea and beyond.