char = B;code = 66
Biodiversity: invasions by marine life on plastic debris.char = C;code = 67
Publication: Nature 2002 Apr 25 ;416(6883)::808-9.
Publication Date: 2002 Apr 25
Study Author(s): Barnes, David K A;
Institution: British Antarctic Survey, Natural Environment Council, Cambridge, UK.
[email protected]
Shortcut link to this study:
Colonization by alien species poses one of the greatest threats to global biodiversity. Here I investigate the colonization by marine organisms of drift debris deposited on the shores of 30 remote islands from the Arctic to the Antarctic (across all oceans) and find that human litter more than doubles the rafting opportunities for biota, particularly at high latitudes. Although the poles may be protected from invasion by freezing sea surface temperatures, these may be under threat as the fastest-warming areas anywhere are at these latitudes.
PMID: 11976671
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