Tryne Islands (45197)
Antarctica, Antarctica
Site overview
KBA status: confirmed
Year of last assessment: 2015
National site name: Tryne Islands
Central coordinates: Latitude: -68.3740, Longitude: 78.4160
System: marine, terrestrial
Elevation (m): 0 to 32
Area of KBA (km2): 0.39751
KBA classification: Regional
Legacy site: Yes
Site details
Site description: Tryne Islands are situated on the Ingrid Christensen Coast, Princess Elizabeth Land, and form the western limit of Tryne Bay which lies to the north of the Vestfold Hills, Prydz Bay. The IBA qualifies on the basis of the Adélie Penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae) colony present, and comprises a small unnamed island of ~1.2 km by 0.5 km in the north of the Tryne Islands. The island is of low, rocky topography rising to an elevation of 32 m, and is largely ice free with several small ponds in summer. The nearest permanent station is Davis (AUS), ~29 km to the southwest on Broad Peninsula in the 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: Whitehead & Johnstone (1990) counted 16 231 breeding pairs of Adélie Penguin on the unnamed island from aerial photography acquired in Dec 1981. More recently, approximately 13 227 breeding pairs were present on the same island, as estimated from Dec 2011 satellite imagery (unpublished data H. Lynch & M. LaRue pers. comm. 2014: CI not available). Non-bird biodiversity: The area around Tryne Islands is a Weddell Seal (Leptonychotes weddellii) pupping area (Australian Antarctic Data Centre 2012).
Delineation rationale: Island coastline where island is ≤ 5 km2.
Threats
Summary of threats to biodiversity at KBA: None known.
Additional information
References: Australian Antarctic Data Centre. 2012. Vestfold Hills Map 1 of 5, Scale 1: 50 000. Edition 6. Catalogue ID 13979. 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.