Revealing the Widespread Bias of Extinction Risk in the Antarctic and the Southern Ocean:

A 2026 compilation provides 6,819,007 geo-referenced occurrence records for marine, terrestrial, and inland-water species within the Antarctic and Southern Ocean region. It includes a taxonomically harmonized list of 20,764 species and 5,403 extinction risk assessments for 2,806 species, sourced from multiple public databases and literature. The dataset supports analysis of spatial biodiversity patterns and conservation status biases in this polar region.

Use Cases

• Analyzing spatial patterns of species occurrence based on 6.8 million geo-referenced records.
• Assessing biases in extinction risk coverage across 20,764 listed Antarctic and Southern Ocean species.
• Prioritizing conservation assessments by selecting a single, representative risk status per species from multiple available assessments.
• Studying taxonomic harmonization and data integration methods across four major biodiversity databases.

Strengths

• Large-scale occurrence data with 6.8 million records, cleaned for duplicates and coordinate inaccuracies.
• Comprehensive species list of 20,764 taxa, taxonomically harmonized using the GBIF Backbone.
• Includes both global and sub-global (population-level) extinction risk assessments for 2,806 species.

Limitations

• The primary occurrence dataset file is noted as too large to upload on the platform, limiting direct access.
• Column names and detailed schema are not provided in the available metadata.
• The dataset's temporal coverage for the occurrence records is not explicitly stated.

Provenance

Source

Compiled from four open-access biodiversity databases and literature searches, using GBIF Backbone Taxonomy for harmonization.

Collection Method

Records were extracted, cleaned for duplicates and coordinate inaccuracies, and taxonomically harmonized.

Time Range

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Freshness

Last updated March 20, 2026.

Geography

Antarctic and Southern Ocean region, as delineated by the Marine Ecosystem Assessment for the Southern Ocean (MEASO).