Seedy scientists are polluting Antarctica

First it was antibiotic-resistant bacteria ? now scientists are polluting Antarctica with weeds. Some could take root, reshaping Antarctica's unique wilderness forever.

Steven Chown of Stellenbosch University in Matieland, South Africa, and colleagues vacuumed the clothes and bags of some 33,000 tourists and 7100 scientists who visited Antarctica between 2007 and 2008. He found an average of 10 plant seeds on each visitor. Many had visited other cold places, so they were carrying species like the Arctic poppy that were likely to survive in Antarctica's chilly climate. Scientists, especially field scientists, were five times seedier than tourists.

Most seeds were grasses or dandelions, which make good invaders, especially as global warming makes Antarctica more hospitable. Poa annua, an annual bluegrass, is already spreading around four research stations.

Antarctica has a lot of unique biodiversity, Chown says. "Colonising species could transform these landscapes to the detriment of indigenous species," he says, besides making them drably similar to landscapes elsewhere. While colonisation happens naturally, he says, humans raise the rate and carry species that wouldn't arrive on their own.

Why does this matter? "People would notice if we added a few random spots of bright pink paint to a Rubens," observes Chown. "Yet many blithely do the equivalent to natural systems without a hint of regret ? who cares if we have Poa annua and rats everywhere?"

Journal reference: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1119787109

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