Recent assessments of Earth’s dwindling wilderness have emphasized that Antarctica is a crucial wilderness in need of protection 1 , 2 . Yet human impacts on the continent are widespread 3 – 5 , the extent of its wilderness unquantified 2 and the importance thereof for biodiversity conservation unknown. Here we assemble a comprehensive record of human activity (approximately 2.7 million records, spanning 200 years) and use it to quantify the extent of Antarctica’s wilderness and its representation of biodiversity. We show that 99.6% of the continent’s area can still be considered wilderness, but this area captures few biodiversity features. Pristine areas, free from human interference, cover a much smaller area (less than 32% of Antarctica) and are declining as human activity escalates 6 . Urgent expansion of Antarctica’s network of specially protected areas 7 can both reverse this trend and secure the continent’s biodiversity 8 – 10 . Historical records reveal that although 99.6% of Antarctica is defined as wilderness, areas undisturbed by humans comprise less than 32%, largely in regions of low biodiversity.

中文翻译：

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南极洲的荒野未能捕捉到大陆的生物多样性

最近对地球荒野减少的评估强调，南极洲是需要保护的重要荒野 1 , 2 。然而，人类对该大陆的影响是广泛的 3 - 5 ，其荒野的范围未量化 2 及其对生物多样性保护的重要性未知。在这里，我们收集了一份人类活动的综合记录（大约 270 万条记录，跨越 200 年），并用它来量化南极洲荒野的范围及其对生物多样性的代表。我们表明，该大陆 99.6% 的区域仍可被视为荒野，但该区域几乎没有生物多样性特征。不受人类干扰的原始地区覆盖的面积要小得多（不到南极洲的 32%），并且随着人类活动的升级而减少 6 。南极洲特别保护区网络的紧急扩张 7 既可以扭转这一趋势，又可以确保该大陆的生物多样性 8 - 10 。历史记录显示，虽然南极洲 99.6% 的地区被定义为荒野，但未受人类干扰的地区不到 32%，主要位于生物多样性低的地区。