Simulated study shows southern ecosystems could be compromised by objects from South Africa, South America, New Zealand and Australia as global heating continues
Scientists say objects that wash ashore in Antarctica could carry animals and plants that, if they could survive the cold conditions, might displace native species.Scientists say objects that wash ashore in Antarctica could carry animals and plants that, if they could survive the cold conditions, might displace native species.
While foreign species have not yet settled on Antarctic coasts, the study suggests that waves and currents have carried objects from around the southern hemisphere to Antarctica’s coasts for thousands of years. Rising plastic pollution also means there is more debris the animals can float on to travel south, after the number of plastic particlesFloating plastic could bring ants and diseases such as bird flu, while drifting kelp and seaweeds could transport crabs, sea stars and slugs, according to Ceridwen Fraser, the study’s co-author and a biogeographer at the University of Otago.
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