The Aliens Are Coming: New Study Shows Invasive Seeds Threatening Antarctic
March 7, 2012 Climate change isn't the only thing affecting the pristine Antarctic ecosystem. Tourists and scientists are inadvertently bringing invasive plants seeds with them to the Antarctic, and the plants are likely to spread as the climate warms, a new study says.
The study (pdf), published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), shows that the environment of the Antarctic will likely be degraded by the the establishment of nonindigenous species.
The study states:
Terrestrial Antarctica remains one of the most pristine environments on Earth. However, much concern now exists that the combination of accelerating climate change and the rapidly growing scope and extent of scientific and tourist activities will lead to substantial environmental degradation. One of the primary drivers of this change is thought to be the increasing prospect of the establishment of terrestrial, invasive, nonindigenous species. [...]
[I]t is clear that several areas of Antarctica are at considerable risk from the establishment of nonindigenous species and that the highest risk sites are those along the Western Antarctic Peninsula.
Read More:
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/03/06-6
