Transport of Driftwood from South America to Tasmania and Macquarie Island

Barber, H. N.; Dadswell, H. E.; Ingle, HD

doi:10.1038/184203a0

Cited by 49 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 1 publication

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“…The traditional interpretation of these affinities is that the two regions were once contiguous and that only during the Cenozoic have they been separated by the deep waters of Drake Passage and development of the Polar Front. Although the possibility of a continued low level of faunal exchange has been recognized (Dell 1972), it is usually assumed that the strength of the ACC and the intensity of the associated Polar Front render this a rare event; however, there are observations of Antarctic plankton well to the north of the Polar Front (Antezana 1999, Hodgson Mya: million years ago et al 1997), and it has long been recognized that pumice and driftwood can move both into and out of the Southern Ocean (Barber et al 1959, Coombs & Landis 1966.…”

Section: Origin and Isolation Of The Antarctic Faunamentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate Change and Invasibility of the Antarctic Benthos

Aronson

Thatje

Clarke

et al. 2007

Annu. Rev. Ecol. Evol. Syst.

280

294

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Benthic communities living in shallow-shelf habitats in Antarctica (<100-m depth) are archaic in structure and function compared to shallow-water communities elsewhere. Modern predators, including fast-moving, durophagous (skeleton-crushing) bony fish, sharks, and crabs, are rare or absent; slow-moving invertebrates are generally the top predators; and epifaunal suspension feeders dominate many soft-substratum communities. Cooling temperatures beginning in the late Eocene excluded durophagous predators, ultimately resulting in the endemic living fauna and its unique food-web structure. Although the Southern Ocean is oceanographically isolated, the barriers to biological invasion are primarily physiological rather than geographic. Cold temperatures impose limits to performance that exclude modern predators. Global warming is now removing those physiological barriers, and crabs are reinvading Antarctica. As sea temperatures continue to rise, the invasion of durophagous predators will modernize the shelf benthos and erode the indigenous character of marine life in Antarctica.

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Section: Origin and Isolation Of The Antarctic Faunamentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate Change and Invasibility of the Antarctic Benthos

Aronson

Thatje

Clarke

et al. 2007

Annu. Rev. Ecol. Evol. Syst.

280

294

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“…Leese et al , 153 for example, recently demonstrated the ability of an Antarctic benthic isopod, Septemserolis septemcarinata , to disperse across major zoogeographic barriers within the SO. Benthic organisms can use pumice, driftwood, and kelp rafts to travel long distances 154–156 . Anthropogenic flotsam, such as plastic debris, contributes to the mobility of invertebrates in the SO 157 …”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Anthropogenic impacts on marine ecosystems in Antarctica

Aronson

Thatje

McClintock

et al. 2011

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences

191

121

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Antarctica is the most isolated continent on Earth, but it has not escaped the negative impacts of human activity. The unique marine ecosystems of Antarctica and their endemic faunas are affected on local and regional scales by overharvesting, pollution, and the introduction of alien species. Global climate change is also having deleterious impacts: rising sea temperatures and ocean acidification already threaten benthic and pelagic food webs. The Antarctic Treaty System can address local- to regional-scale impacts, but it does not have purview over the global problems that impinge on Antarctica, such as emissions of greenhouse gases. Failure to address human impacts simultaneously at all scales will lead to the degradation of Antarctic marine ecosystems and the homogenization of their composition, structure, and processes with marine ecosystems elsewhere.

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“…Bouvet is particularly important because of its position in the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) and the Weddell Gyre (Linse 2005;Thatje et al 2005b), suggesting a potentially strategic role in the faunal exchange among the various regions and across the Polar Front. Pelagic larvae and drift stages must predominantly be transported eastward by the ACC or by vehicles travelling in it, such as pumice, drifting algae, driftwood, and plastic debris, often over enormous distances (Barber et al 1959;Coombs and Landis 1966;Helmuth et al 1994;Beu et al 1997;O Foighil et al 1999;Barnes 2002). However, deep-sea migration of eurybathic species (Brey et al 1996;Thatje et al 2005a), transport via mesoscale eddies (Thatje and Fuentes 2003;Glorioso et al 2005;Gayoso and Podesta´1996), or hitch-hiking on migrant megafauna (Barnes et al 2004) seems to represent the only means of return.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%