The attached paper, now in review, describes the Mapping Application for Penguin Populations and Projected Dynamics (MAPPPD), which is a web-based, open access, decision support tool designed to assist scientists, non-governmental organizations, and policymakers working to meet the management objectives as set forth by CCAMLR and other components of the Antarctic Treaty system (i.e., Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meetings and the Antarctic Treaty Committee on Environmental Protection).
The database underlying MAPPPD includes all available (published and unpublished) data on the four penguins (emperor, gentoo, Adélie, and chinstrap) for the region south of 60° S. A Bayesian population model integrates the available data to develop estimates of abundance for each site and for each year since 1982; estimates are easily aggregated across multiple sites to obtain abundance estimates over any user-defined area of interest. A front-end web interface located at www.penguinmap.com provides free and ready access to the most recent count and modeled data, and can act as a facilitator for data transfer between scientists and Antarctic stakeholders to help inform management decisions for the continent.