Mapping present day polynya ecosystem value from phytoplankton to penguins

In coastal Antarctica, polynyas – open water areas within the sea ice – are “hot spots” of high biological productivity that play outsized roles in phytoplankton productivity and open water access for marine predators. Connections between coastal polynyas and primary and secondary biological production are important to quantify under both present and future climate conditions. This paper presents a synthesis of data layers into an EcoIndex that provides new information on regions of high value across trophic levels. The EcoIndex combines biological observations through remote sensing capabilities and state-of-the-art Earth System Model (ESM) data. We identify areas of regional significance around the Antarctic continent and assess how polynyas affect these locations. We also compare our EcoIndex with other work identifying ecologically significant areas and find that both methods identify similar locations. These results have implications for ecosystem monitoring and management that may be relevant in various Antarctic regions where polynyas exist but have not been considered in spatial planning.