Events
This unusually cold and isolated part of the world constantly receives various kinds of “passengers” to its land. Seeds, fungi and insects tend to go where humans live, and in this case researchers and tourists take them. All these “arrived creatures” create the potential for the development of invasive species that want to settle on the world's most untouched continent and its islands.
“Antarctica is still at a stage where fewer than 10 non-native species exist, none of which have become invasive,” says Kevin Hughes, an environmental scientist British Antarctic Service. “If we don't take steps to minimize the risk of introduction, who knows what might happen.”
Invasive species are species unusual for a given habitat that actively thrive in it, often expelling or exterminating native organisms, causing damage to humans, clogging waterways and causing a host of other problems.
Hughes and other experts intended to determine what random events occurring at some international research stations in Antarctica could lead to the development of invasive species. In one of their studies, he and his team studied more than 11250 fruit and vegetable samples arriving at nine research stations in Antarctica and on subantarctic islands located in the northern part of the Southern Ocean. They did this to check what came with the food.
Products that included absolutely everything from apples and turnips to papaya were shipped from all over the world. The “passengers” traveling with them were also diverse, including at least 56 species of invertebrates, including butterflies, aphids, etc. 12 percent of the products contained harmful impurities, and 28 percent rotting was caused by a microbial infection.
“Were we surprised by the results and does this indicate a serious problem? It is very difficult to answer this question,” says Daniel Simberloff, a professor at the University of Tennessee who was not involved in the study. “As a result, it is not surprising that various organisms appear in Antarctica, since a sufficient number of people live there, albeit temporarily. However, I am inclined to believe that a subset of these organisms will still be able to create environmental problems.”
This study was only part of a project aimed at finding out what is actually coming to Antarctica.
As part of the same project, Hughes and colleagues studied dirt brought by vehicles and found a menagerie of tiny microorganisms (about 40,000 types of seeds) in it.
“Frankly speaking, we will be able to prevent the launched mechanism of prosperity of non-native species in Antarctica only when we completely abandon its further study, that is, cutting off all routes, “Hughes said.
“What we can do now is try to minimize the risk of introduction, and this can be done in a fairly short time,” he added.
The results of the study include recommendations, from where food should come from and how to eat, to what to do with food waste.
Currently, alien species have done little on a continent not native to them. A rare but very limited success has come to a tiny fly species and black mushroom that has managed to survive well inside a British research station located on mainland Antarctica .
Antarctic islands are home to far more alien species than the continent itself. For example, another herb of foreign origin has been discovered on King George Island. However, according to Hughes, further north, the subantarctic islands are doing much worse, as they receive an average of one new inhabitant each year as people visit them became more than 200 years ago.
Invasive species can “get help” from the process of global warming, the consequences of which are to ease the harsh conditions of the Antarctic climate, which indicates a greater ability to survive.