As Antarctica thaws, species may clash
Study shows continent could become more hospitable to animals, setting up conflicts
Melting from climate change could create new habitat, but it may not be a good thing for the fragile Antarctic ecosystem.
As climate change continues to cause massive melting and ice loss in Antarctica, new habitats may begin to open up for wildlife across the thawing continent, scientists reported Wednesday. But while that may sound like a boon for plants, microbes, birds and other organisms, they caution that this is not necessarily a good thing for the fragile Antarctic ecosystem.
As more ice-free space opens up across the continent, previously isolated species may begin to spread out and come in contact with each other. And as they’re increasingly forced to compete for resources, some organisms may emerge dominant — and others may start to disappear, writes a team of researchers in a new study, published in the journal Nature.
While Antarctica is a largely frozen continent, isolated icefree areas — including exposed mountaintops, cliffs, valleys and islands — are already scattered across the region, and may range in size from less than a square mile to hundreds of square miles. They may be separated by anywhere from a few feet to dozens or hundreds of miles.
“It’s not a simple picture, and ice-free areas occur in many forms,” said study co-author Thomas Bracegirdle, a climatologist with the British Antarctic Survey, in an email to The Washington Post.
These areas can be home to various species of vegetation, microbes, worms or insects and other small organisms, and may also serve as breeding grounds for animals like seals and seabirds. These species tend to be highly specialized for the extreme conditions in which they live, said Peter Convey, a terrestrial ecologist with the British Antarctic Survey, who was not involved with the new study.
“From the outside, we look at Antarctica as one big continent — it’s all covered in ice, it’s all the same thing,” Convey told The Washington Post. “And actually, we wouldn’t do that with any other continents.”
But according to the new paper, there’s been very little research so far on how climate change and ice melt in Antarctica may affect the life forms it hosts. The study suggests that, in fact, these influences have the potential to cause profound changes in Antarctic biodiversity.
Led by Jasmine Lee of the University of Queensland, the team of researchers used a model to make projections of future Antarctic ice melt under two hypothetical climate trajectories: a business-as-usual scenario, which assumes unabated greenhouse gas emissions and high levels of future climate change, and a slightly more moderate scenario.
These changes could come with good and bad consequences for native Antarctic species, the researchers suggest. On the one hand, more ice-free area means more habitat space for plants and animals. On the other hand, the expanding habitat area could also lead to the spread of invasive species especially as conditions grow milder and more favorable in Antarctica.
That said, Convey added, even without humans carrying new species to the South Pole, the Antarctic ecosystem would be unlikely to remain the same forever — and that’s not necessarily preventable or even always a bad thing.
“There is a danger of seeing conservation as saying we must keep everything as it is now,” Convey said. And while limiting the harmful influences of human activities is important, he added that “we shouldn’t think of Antarctica as being hermetically sealed and it must always look like it does now.”