Invasive species are threatening Antarctica's fragile ecosystems as human activity grows and the world warms

By Dana M Bergstrom, Principal Research Scientist, University of Wollongong
Shavawn Donoghue, Adjunct Researcher, University of Tasmania

We tend to think Antarctica is isolated and far away – biologically speaking, this is true. But the continent is busier than you probably imagine, with many national programs and tourist operators crisscrossing the globe to get there.

And each vessel, each cargo item, and each person could be harbouring non-native species, hitchhiking their way south. This threat to Antarctica’s fragile ecosystem is what our new evaluation, released today, grapples with.

We mapped…

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