Measuring Impacts on Soils by Human Activity in an Antarctic Special Protected Area

We report an environmental impact study, conducted by the LIMNOPOLAR expedition at Byers Peninsula, Livingston Island, South Shetland Islands, designated as Antarctic Special Protection Area No. 126 (SCAR, 2003). The main objective is to test the effectiveness of SCAR recommendations for minimizing the environmental impact of Antarctic expeditions, by using new tentative models for prediction and minimization of human activity impacts on Antarctic protected areas. We analyzed physical soil degradation on the camp surface and on the paths created by the researchers to access the sampling areas. Several quantitative and semiquantitative indicators are applied in the study, such as a penetration index, the apparent density (used to obtain the soil compression), or the use level. The first data collected show empirical evidence that even low human activity affects on the soil at the surface layer.