The invaders of Antarctica

Biological invasions represent one of the six most important drivers of ongoing global environmental change.

"Non-native plant and animal species introduced accidentally, or for agroforestry production reasons, into a new environment can potentially acclimate and adapt to the new conditions and spread beyond prediction to the point of altering the structure, biodiversity and functioning of natural ecosystems"

Piero Calosi

Increased shipping traffic and warming oceans are contributing to the establishment of non-native species in high-latitude environments, continues Professor Calosi, who is in charge of the Marine Ecological and Evolutionary Physiology Laboratory at UQAR.

From this perspective, coastal habitats in the Arctic and Antarctic are particularly susceptible to biological invasions from more temperate climates.

UQAR, in collaboration with the Center for Dynamic Research of High Latitude Marine Ecosystems (Centro IDEAL) and the Chilean Institute of Antarctica (INACH), will play an important role in analyzing the collected specimens and characterizing the physiological conditions of individuals of the same species from different habitats to help identify which habitats may be more favorable for the establishment of non-native species in Antarctica.

For the full article:  In search of invasive species in Antarctica

Illustration: photo by Ignacio Garrido MSc. - Marine annelid Flabelligera mundata

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