Ocean currents as a potential dispersal pathway for Antarctica’s most persistent non-native terrestrial insect

Bartlett, Jesamine C.; Convey, Peter ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8497-9903; Hughes, Kevin ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2701-726X; Thorpe, Sally ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5193-6955; Hayward, S.A.L.. 2021 Ocean currents as a potential dispersal pathway for Antarctica’s most persistent non-native terrestrial insect. Polar Biology, 44 (2). 209-216. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-020-02792-2

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Text (Open Access) This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Bartlett2021_Article_OceanCurrentsAsAPotentialDispe.pdf - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution 4.0. Download (1MB) | Preview

Abstract/Summary

The non-native midge Eretmoptera murphyi is Antarctica’s most persistent non-native insect and is known to impact the terrestrial ecosystems. It inhabits by considerably increasing litter turnover and availability of soil nutrients. The midge was introduced to Signy Island, South Orkney Islands, from its native South Georgia, and routes of dispersal to date have been aided by human activities, with little known about non-human-assisted methods of dispersal. This study is the first to determine the potential for dispersal of a terrestrial invertebrate species in Antarctica by combining physiological sea water tolerance data with quantitative assessments of ocean current journey times. Fourth instar larvae tolerated sea water submergence for up to 21 days, but submerged egg sacs had significantly reduced hatching success. Using near-surface drifter data, we conclude that ocean current dispersal from Signy Island would not present a risk of species transfer beyond the South Orkney Islands on the tested timescales. However, if E. murphyi were to be introduced to the South Shetlands Islands or Adelaide Island, which are located offshore of the Antarctic Peninsula, there would be a risk of successful oceanic dispersal to neighbouring islands and the Antarctic Peninsula mainland. This study emphasises the need for effective biosecurity measures and demonstrates the role that currently undocumented pathways may have in dispersing non-native species.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-020-02792-2
ISSN:	0722-4060
Additional Keywords:	near-surface drifters, Chironomidae, salinity tolerance, non-native species, insect, physiology, climate change
Date made live:	12 Jan 2021 12:44 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/526344

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