TITLE:    Human disturbance and long-term changes in Adelie penguin populations:
          a natural experiment at Palmer Station, Antarctic Peninsula.
PAGE:     95 of SCAR SIXTH BIOLOGY SYMPOSIUM, Antarctic Communities: Species,
          Structure and Survival 
AUTHOR:   William R Fraser and Donna L Patterson
ABSTRACT: Human activity related to tourism and research near Palmer Station,
Anvers Island, Antarctic Peninsula, shows a significant increase since 1974.
Although the focus of this activity was originally on the large, easily
accessible populations of Adelie Penguins on Litchfield and Torgersen islands,
Litchfield Island became a Specially Protected Area (SPA) in 1978.  This ended
tourism on the island and reduced research related activity to negligible
levels.  Despite SPA status, breeding populations of Adelie Penguins on
Litchfield Island decreased by 56% between 1975 and 1993.  In contrast, on
Torgersen Island, where tourism and research-related activities have been
increasing, the decrease in these populations amounted to only 13% over the
same time period.  There is increasing concern that tourism and other human
activities may negatively impact Antarctic wildlife populations.  Although
this concern may be justified for some types of human activity, our data
suggest that the potentially adverse effects of tourism and research may be
negligible relative to the effects imposed by long-term changes in other
environmental variables.