Scientists have detected the DNA of an invasive marine species in Arctic Canada suggesting the region’s waters are no longer cold enough to be a natural barrier.The study, published in Global Change
Scientists have detected the DNA of an invasive marine species in Arctic Canada suggesting the region’s waters are no longer cold enough to be a natural barrier.
The study, published in Global Change Biology by researchers at British Antarctic Survey (BAS), provides the first evidence of a non-native invasive barnacle species.
Climate change is warming the Arctic nearly four times faster than anywhere else on Earth. As a result, Canada’s Arctic waters are losing their thermal barrier against invasive species. Previously, these cold waters prevented invasive species travelling north and establishing populations.
As organisms move through water, they leave behind genetic traces through skin cells, waste and other biological materials - known as environmental DNA (eDNA). The researchers collected these eDNA samples whilst on cruise ships operating on busy Arctic shipping routes.
The researchers detected a bay barnacle (Amphibalanus improvisus), an invasive marine species that is already prevalent in European waters and the Pacific Ocean, contributing to biofouling of ships, pipelines and other infrastructure, and ecological disruption.
Marine invasive species typically arrive in Arctic Canada on ship hulls and in their ballast water. This shipping traffic has increased by over 250% since 1990 with scientists now investigating the increased ecological
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