Cape Bienvenue (45205)
Antarctica, Antarctica
Site overview
KBA status: confirmed
Year of last assessment: 2015
National site name: Cape Bienvenue
Central coordinates: Latitude: -66.7210, Longitude: 140.5246
System: marine, terrestrial
Area of KBA (km2): 0.15073
KBA classification: Regional
Legacy site: Yes
Site details
Site description: Cape Bienvenue is a rocky peninsula approximately 0.5 km in length and across and forms the eastern coast of Piner Bay in Terre Adélie. The cape is ~18 km east of Cape Jules and a similar distance west of the Astrolabe Glacier Tongue. The IBA qualifies on the basis of the Adélie Penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae) colony present and comprises all of the ice free area at Cape Bienvenue. The nearest permanent station is Dumont d'Urville (FRA), ~25 km to the west at Pointe Géologie.
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: Barbraud et al . (1999) made a ground count of 15 023 breeding pairs of Adélie Penguin in 1997/98. This compares with approximately 35 466 breeding pairs (95% CI: 21 500, 57 951) of Adélie Penguin at Cape Bienvenue as estimated from February 2011 satellite imagery (Lynch & LaRue 2014). It is not clear whether this more recent count demonstrates change as a result of inter-seasonal fluctuations, methodological differences, or represents a real increase in the local Adélie Penguin population. The Barbraud et al . (1999) survey also reported 20 pairs of Snow Petrels ( Pagodroma nivea ), four pairs of South Polar Skuas ( Catharacta maccormicki ) and confirmed Wilson's Storm-petrels ( Oceanites oceanicus ) as breeding at Cape Bienvenue. Non-bird biodiversity: None known.
Delineation rationale: If ice-free area is ≤ 5 km2 then ice-free area is used as boundary.
Threats
Summary of threats to biodiversity at KBA: None known.
Additional information
References: Barbraud, C., Delord, K.C., Micol, T. & Jouventin, P. 1999. First census of breeding seabirds between Cap Bienvenue (Terre Adélie) and Moyes Islands (King George V Land), Antarctica: new records for Antarctic seabird populations. Polar Biology 21: 146-50. 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