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Invasive species in Antarctica
An adult midge found on Signy Island off Antarctica
Scientists with the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) have discovered that a species of fly originally from South Georgia, the chironomid midge, has flourished since its accidental introduction to Signy Island in the Antarctic in the 1960s. It has expanded to more than 650 feet (200 meters) away from its original site, and in some areas is more numerous than any of the native insects. "There's a risk of the flies becoming persistent and then turning into something invasive and damaging," said Peter Convey, a terrestrial ecologist with the BAS, who, along with study author Kevin Hughes, environmental research and monitoring manager at the BAS, presented research on invasive species in Antarctica at the International Polar Year science conference in Oslo last week. The fly likely traveled unnoticed on the backs of plants that were brought to Antarctica for research purposes, Convey said. It was discovered in the 1980s, but didn't seem to be causing any harm. Then in the 1990s and early 2000s, its populations exploded, Convey said.
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