Only one-fifth of Antarctica’s vegetation is protected, and a study identifies priority areas for expanding protection

Antarctica may seem like a remote landscape of ice and snow, home to animals such as penguins and seals. Yet even the coldest continent on Earth supports vegetation. Although it covers just 44 km² — 0.00031% of the continent’s total surface area — it plays a key role in regulating the carbon cycle, providing food and shelter for insects and microorganisms, and regulating the water cycle, among other essential functions. A new study now warns that only 21.4% of this vegetation cover lies within protected areas. To address this gap, the researchers have identified 92 locations where protection should be prioritised. The proposal has been submitted to the Committee for Environmental Protection of the Antarctic Treaty and contributes to the global goal of protecting at least 30% of terrestrial and marine areas by 2030, as established by the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.

The study was led by Charlotte Walshaw, a researcher at the University of Edinburgh, and involved several international organisations, with CREAF being the only Spanish institution.

According to García Criado, one of the study’s key strengths is its potential practical application: the aim is to help decision-makers under the Antarctic Treaty, the international agreement that governs activities on the continent, determine where future conservation measures could have the greatest impact.

To assess the proportion of vegetation within protected areas, the team used high-resolution satellite data on vegetation cover. To identify the locations most urgently in need of protection, the researchers considered several criteria, including whether vegetation is threatened by invasive species such as Poa annua, a plant that has already become established in Antarctica and can negatively affect native flora. They also assessed the presence of irreplaceable plant communities for meeting set conservation targets and their proximity to infrastructure such as research stations, whose associated activities may affect vegetation. Most of the proposed new conservation areas are located on Fildes Peninsula, in the north-western Antarctic Peninsula; in Taylor Valley, in southern Victoria Land; and in the Vestfold Hills, in East Antarctica.

Only two flowering plant species grow in Antarctica: Deschampsia antarctica, a grass commonly known as Antarctic hair grass, and Colobanthus quitensis, a herbaceous plant that produces tiny flowers. However, most of the continent’s plant diversity consists of bryophytes — including more than 150 recorded species of mosses and liverworts — and around 400 species of lichens. Some occur nowhere else in the world, such as the moss Schistidium antarctici and the lichen Usnea antarctica.

“One interesting feature of bryophytes is that they balance their water content with the surrounding environment. This allows them to dry out when water is unavailable and become active again when conditions are favourable. For this reason, they are very useful for studying climate change, as their condition reflects changes in environmental conditions,” explains Mariana García Criado.

The researcher is currently a professor at Trinity College Dublin and is affiliated with CREAF as a Marie Skłodowska-Curie postdoctoral researcher. Her work focuses on flora in extreme environments, and she has travelled to Lapland, Svalbard, Greenland and Antarctica. “All these places are like outdoor laboratories for studying the effects of climate change on biodiversity,” she adds.

According to the research team, the findings provide an evidence-based framework for strengthening the protection of Antarctica’s terrestrial ecosystems.

“The next step is to combine satellite data with field expeditions to confirm the presence of vegetation and lay the foundations for future plant conservation in Antarctica,” García Criado concludes.

The paper also includes researchers from the University of Edinburgh, the British Antarctic Survey, Trinity College Dublin, the University of Johannesburg, the Millennium Institute – Biodiversity of Antarctic and Sub-Antarctic Ecosystems (BASE), the University of Birmingham, the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA), and the Securing Antarctica’s Environmental Future (SAEF) programme at Monash University.

• Article reference: Walshaw, CV, García Criado, M., Hughes, KA, Colesie, C., Wauchope, HS, Convey, P., Gray, AM, & Lee, JR (2026). Identifying priorities for systematic Antarctic vegetation protection at the continental scale. Biological Conservation, 324, 112121. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2026.112121