Scientists Find 1st Evidence Of Invasive Barnacles In Arctic; Polar Water Had Been Too Cold For Them To Live There
Researchers say they've found evidence of the first invasive barnacle species in Nunavut's waters – a discovery they believe is a result of warming waters. They published their findings last month in the journal Global Change Biology.
They explain the Arctic's cold waters have – for the most part – prevented invasive species from migrating north. But with the Arctic warming up nearly four times faster than anywhere else on Earth, shipping routes are opening up, and the region's waters are losing their thermal barrier against invasive species.
Shipping traffic in parts of Arctic Canada has increased by over 250 percent since 1990, according to the report, and that's providing a vector for transporting non-Indigenous species to the region. The bay barnacle (Amphibalanus improvisus), which is already present in European waters and the Pacific Ocean, was detected in ten different areas across Canada's Arctic.
Betty Boyse, a molecular biologist with the British Antarctic Survey and co-author of the study, carried out the work while on cruise ships. Most barnacles in that study were detected near Pond Inlet, which serves as a gateway into the Northwest Passage. Researchers didn't actually see the barnacles with their own eyes. Rather, they detected them using environmental DNA they collected from the waters they cruised through.
"Essentially all I have to do is go and collect a bucket of seawater, and within the seawater, I basically am collecting any shed skin cells, any poo, anything that organisms are putting into the environment … and I can use this to actually identify what species have been there," she said.
As for why the researchers chose to gather data from a ship, she said barnacles are filter feeders which latch onto surfaces and suck their food through water. "Boats are actually a really appealing place for them to stick onto because as the water flushes through, as the boats move, they get extra food from this," she said.
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https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/researchers-first-invasive-barnacle-nunavut-1.7650859