Abstract
Global biodiversity is both declining and being redistributed in response to multiple drivers characterizing the Anthropocene, including synergies between biological invasions and climate change. The Antarctic marine benthos may constitute the last biogeographic realm where barriers (oceanographic currents, climatic gradients) have not yet been broken. Here we report the successful settlement of a cohort of Mytilus cf. platensis in a shallow subtidal habitat of the South Shetland Islands in 2019, which demonstrates the ability of this species to complete its early life stages in this extreme environment. Genetic analyses and shipping records show that this observation is consistent with the dominant vectors and pathways linking southern Patagonia with the Antarctic Peninsula and demonstrates the potential for impending invasions of Antarctic ecosystems.
Highlights
Planetary changes during the Anthropocene have led to an unprecedented rate of biodiversity declines and redistribution, in response to the interplay of drivers such as climate change and species invasions[1,2,3]
The topology of the maximum-likelihood (ML) tree was identical to that of the neighbor-joining distance (NJ) tree as far as nodes supported by bootstrap scores over 50% are concerned (Fig. S1)
There is no consensus for the species name of this clade and it is not the scope of this study to deal with taxonomic questions, we suggest that this clade S1 could be referred to as Mytilus cf. platensis d’Orbigny, 184221–23
Summary
Planetary changes during the Anthropocene have led to an unprecedented rate of biodiversity declines and redistribution, in response to the interplay of drivers such as climate change and species invasions[1,2,3]. The shallow Antarctic benthos has remained uninvaded far[12] due to the combination of geographical distance (>1000 km), oceanographic circulation (e.g., APF) and environmental conditions (e.g., consistently near-freezing temperatures) Both dispersal and physiological barriers to the establishment of non-indigenous species (NIS) may explain why, to date, no known NIS have become established there[12]. Especially low temperatures, will present a significant challenge to any NIS arriving to Antarctica, but in the context of global climate change, these environmental filters[17] are likely to become less of a barrier to Antarctic invasibility and in the future Such changes are severe in the Antarctic peninsula and surrounding archipels[18], where human activities (and associated propagule pressures) are concentrated and increasing[12]. Due to their small size, identification required molecular barcoding, which showed that these mussels belong to a clade endemic to southern Patagonia (Mytilus cf. platensis), the region from which most ship traffic originates
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
