The findings, reported in today's Nature, are based on a 10-year study of human litter (mostly plastic) washed ashore on 30 remote islands around the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic.

David Barnes of the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) found that manmade rubbish in the seas, especially plastics, has almost doubled the spread of alien species in the subtropics and more than tripled it at high latitudes. Part of this research was conducted at University College, Cork, Ireland.

Since the creation of plastics over 50 years ago, floating litter has provided mobile homes for marine organisms such as bryozoans, barnacles, polychete worms, hydroids and molluscs, increasing opportunity for dispersal to new areas. Many seem to prefer plastics to natural matter such as volcanic rock, pumice and wood.

Barnes and colleagues are investigating the potential impact on Antarctica's native marine animal life. The predicted 2°C temperature increase in the Southern Ocean over the next 100 years will weaken Antarctica's natural barrier, which currently freezes out alien species. The first warning signs will be seen at the most northerly Antarctic islands.

BAS marine biologist David Barnes says, "If freezing seawater temperature is the main barrier to alien organism invasion of Antarctica, polar warming could lessen this constraint. Some native Antarctic marine species appear to be very sensitive to even a small temperature increase. If alien species enter the region they have the capacity to drastically and irrevocably change these ecosystems."

The effects of changes in temperature in the Southern ocean is part of the BAS core science program, "Life at the Edge," which examines Antarctic ecosystems with the aim of understanding how species cope with environmental change.

Scientists from the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) are studying the impact this may have on Antarctica, where between 60-95% of the known marine animal life is native to that region.

There is a worldwide conservation effort to remove introduced species from environmentally sensitive areas. The Antarctic Treaty, Environmental Protocol, specifically requires the removal of non-native species (except humans) from the continent.

The Hadley Centre Climate Models and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predict a 2°C temperature increase in the Southern Ocean over the next 100 years.

British Antarctic Survey is responsible for most of the UK's research in Antarctica. It is a component of the Natural Environment Research Council.

(Reference: Invasion by marine life on plastic debris by David Barnes is published in a Brief Communication this week in Nature.)

(Editor's Note: David Barnes would like to hear from anyone who would be able to conduct simple shore debris surveys, particularly from the following islands: Andamans, Ille Amsterdam, Bermuda, Chagos, Clipperton, Cocos/Christmas, Gilbert, Midway, Society, Socotra, Trinidade and Wake.)

Related websites:

Nature

British Antarctic Survey


[Contact: Dave Barnes, Linda Capper, Athena Dinar]

25-Apr-2002