Curzon Islands (45208)
Antarctica, Antarctica
Site overview
KBA status: confirmed
Year of last assessment: 2015
National site name: Curzon Islands
Central coordinates: Latitude: -66.7670, Longitude: 141.5797
System: marine, terrestrial
Area of KBA (km2): 3.58997
KBA classification: Regional
Legacy site: Yes
Site details
Site description: Curzon Islands are a group of mainly ice free islands ~300 m north of Cape Découverte, Terre Adélie. Retour Island is the largest in the group at ~1 km long and ~0.5 km wide. The IBA qualifies on the basis of the Adélie Penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae) colony present, and comprises all of the island group and the intervening marine area. The closest permanent station is Dumont d'Urville (FRA), ~70 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: The penguins breed mainly on Retour Island, although nests are also present on surrounding smaller islands. Barbraud et al. (1999) counted 12 641 breeding pairs of Adélie Penguin in 1997/98. This compares with approximately 14 694 breeding pairs (95% CI: 8813, 24 081) of Adélie Penguin present at Curzon Islands as estimated from February 2011 satellite imagery (Lynch & LaRue 2014). Barbraud et al. (1999) also recorded eight pairs of South Polar Skuas (Catharacta maccormicki) and confirmed that Wilson's Storm-petrels (Oceanites oceanicus) breed on the island group. Non-bird biodiversity: None known.
Delineation rationale: Shortest perimeter around island groups and/or ice-free areas ≤ 5 km2, including marine areas as appropriate.
Threats
Summary of threats to biodiversity at KBA: Only two tourist visits to the Cape Découverte area have been reported in the ten years from 2004-14: 50 people visited in 2008/09 (none landed) and 72 people visited in 2005/06 (all landed) (IAATO Tourism Statistics, accessed: 18/12/2014).
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