Warriner Island, Donskiye Islands (45192)
Antarctica, Antarctica
Site overview
KBA status: confirmed
Year of last assessment: 2015
National site name: Warriner Island, Donskiye Islands
Central coordinates: Latitude: -68.6070, Longitude: 77.9141
System: marine, terrestrial
Elevation (m): 0 to 55
Area of KBA (km2): 0.68309
KBA classification: Regional
Legacy site: Yes
Site details
Site description: Warriner Island is the eastern-most of the Donskiye Islands, located ~0.5 km west of Broad Peninsula in the southern part of the Vestfold Hills, Princess Elizabeth Land. It is an ice free island, ~ 1.2 km long and up to 0.7km wide. Its highest point reaches 52 m. The IBA qualifies on the basis of the Adélie Penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae) colony present at the site. The IBA comprises all of Warriner Island. The nearest permanent station is Davis (AUS), ~4 km to the northeast on Broad Peninsula, Vestfold Hills.
Rationale for qualifying as KBA: This site qualifies as a Key Biodiversity Area of international significance that was identified using previously established criteria and thresholds for the identification of Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBAs) and for which available data indicate that it does not meet global KBA criteria and thresholds set out in the Global Standard.
Additional biodiversity: Approximately 23 760 pairs of Adélie Penguin were estimated as breeding at Warriner Island using satellite imagery from February 2012 (unpublished data H. Lynch & M. LaRue pers. comm. 2014: CI not available). In 1981/82 the colony size was estimated with 14 782 breeding pairs (Whitehead & Johnstone 1990). The breeding colony is situated on the flatter part of the island along its west coast. Lynch & LaRue (2014) grouped records of Adélie Penguins present on Warriner Island IBA with the unnamed island in Donskiye Islands IBA, Lugg, Magnetic and Turner Islands IBA and Gardner Island IBA and referred to these as ‘Vestfold South'. No other birds are known to breed in the area. Non-bird biodiversity: Southern Elephant Seals (Mirounga leonina) haul out in the vicinity at the western end of Broad Peninsula (Australian Antarctic Data Centre 2012).
Delineation rationale: Island coastline where island is ≤ 5 km2.
Threats
Summary of threats to biodiversity at KBA: Donskiye Islands lie close to Davis Station and local operational activities could pose potential concerns for conservation of wildlife. In particular, oil spills and aircraft operations represent potential risks to local breeding birdlife. Davis Station has comprehensive procedures in place to manage and minimise these risks (see e.g. Australian Antarctic Data Centre 2012), and station management are cognisant of locally sensitive wildlife, so risks are considered low.
Additional information
References: Australian Antarctic Data Centre. 2012. Vestfold Hills Map 4 of 5, Scale 1: 50 000. Edition 6. Catalogue ID 13982. Lynch, H.J. & LaRue, M.A. 2014. First global census of the Adélie Penguin. The Auk 131(4): 457-66. doi:10.1642/AUK-14-31.1 Whitehead, M.D. & Johnstone, G.W. 1990. The distribution and estimated abundance of Adélie Penguins breeding in Prydz Bay, Antarctica. NIPR Symposium on Polar Biology: 91-98.