Accidental transfer of non-native soil organisms into Antarctica on construction vehicles

Hughes, Kevin A.; Convey, Peter; Maslen, N. R.; Smith, R. I. Lewis

doi:10.1007/s10530-009-9508-2

Cited by 96 publications

(81 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…However, it is more likely this result is indicative of real-world soil contaminants on sea containers because it is similar to seed count data obtained from a recent study of soil intercepted from sea containers at New Zealand ports (McNeill et al in prep.). Moreover, our experimental result also matched the 0.03 seeds that germinated per gram of soil intercepted from construction vehicles in Antarctica (Hughes et al 2010). Thus, we tentatively conclude that soil contaminants on sea containers represent small, difficult-to-hit targets for windborne seeds, so seed counts per gram of soil will seldom increase during transport, while seed viability will generally decline.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

“…For example, previous research suggests soil transported by sea, which will have had relatively long transport durations, contains fewer organisms than soil transported by air: Construction vehicles shipped by sea contained 0.002 nematodes/g (Hughes et al 2010) and soil from sea containers contained 0.07 nematodes/g (Marshall and Varney 2000), while soil from air passengers' footwear contained 41 nematodes/g (McNeill et al 2011). Similarly, 11% of seeds from construction vehicle soil were viable (Hughes et al 2010) c.f. 69% in footwear soil (McNeill et al 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Defining the biosecurity risk posed by transported soil: Effects of storage time and environmental exposure on survival of soil biota

McNeill¹,

Phillips²,

Robinson³

et al. 2017

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Soil frequently occurs as a contaminant on numerous sea, land and air transport pathways. It can carry unwanted invasive species, is widely recognized as a biosecurity risk, and is usually strictly regulated by biosecurity authorities. However, little is known about relative risk levels between pathways, thus authorities have limited capability to identify and target the riskiest soil pathways for management. We conducted a an experiment to test the hypotheses that biosecurity risks from soil organisms will increase both with declining transport duration and with increasing protection from environmental extremes. Soil was collected from two sites, a native forest remnant and an orchard, and stored on, in and under sea containers, or in cupboards, and assayed after 0, 3, 6 and 12 months for bacteria, fungi, nematodes and seeds.Results showed that viability of Pseudomonas spp., bacteria, nematodes and plants declined over 12 months, irrespective of soil source. Also, mortality of most biota was higher when exposed to sunlight, moisture and desiccation than when protected. However, bacterial and fungal numbers were higher in exposed environments, possibly due to ongoing colonization of exposed soil by airborne propagules. The results were consistent with our observations of organisms in soil intercepted from airports and sea ports, and indicated there is potential to rank risks from transported soils based partly on transport duration and environmental exposure. This would help authorities to optimally allocate management resources according to pathway-specific risks. McNeill et al. / NeoBiota 32: 65-88 (2017) 66 Copyright

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Defining the biosecurity risk posed by transported soil: Effects of storage time and environmental exposure on survival of soil biota

McNeill¹,

Phillips²,

Robinson³

et al. 2017

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“…This is probably related to the greater biodiversity in the Antarctic marine ecosystems compared to the terrestrial ecosystem (Broyer et al 2011). Although it is true that terrestrial biodiversity is comparatively low, it is also a fact that it has been poorly studied, and recent studies show that Antarctic terrestrial ecosystems may be much more biologically diverse than previously thought (Convey 2010(Convey , 2011. There is always less information about microorganisms when compared to plants and upper animals or chordates and this was reflected in the articles about animals showing the largest rate of increase.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Trends in Antarctic ecological research in Latin America shown by publications in international journals

et al. 2013

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Antarctica is a highly interesting region for ecologists because of its extreme climatic conditions and the uniqueness of its species. In this article, we describe the trends in Antarctic ecological research participation by Latin American countries. In a survey of articles indexed by the ISI Web of Science, we searched under the categories “Ecology,” “Biodiversity Conservation” and “Evolutionary Biology” and found a total of 254 research articles published by Latin American countries. We classified these articles according to the country of affiliation, kingdom of the study species, level of biological organization and environment. Our main finding is that there is a steady increase in the relative contribution of Latin American countries to Antarctic ecological research. Within each category, we found that marine studies are more common than terrestrial studies. Between the different kingdoms, most studies focus on animals and most studies use a community approach. The leading countries in terms of productivity were Argentina, Chile and Brazil, with Argentina showing the highest rate of increase

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“…However, in light of current climate change predictions, the suggested immunity of the continent to these types of introductions is in question. Given several recent studies showing the local and regional uniqueness of soil microbial communities Chong et al 2012), the transfer of soil bacteria between regions of the continent may be of paramount immediate concern to the biosecurity of the ecosystem as repercussions of such transfers are not yet fully understood (Hughes et al 2010;Cowan et al 2011).…”

Section: Exogenous Factors and Inputsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microbiology of Eutrophic (Ornithogenic and Hydrocarbon-Contaminated) Soil

Aislabie

Novis

Ferrari

2014

Antarctic Terrestrial Microbiology

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Accidental transfer of non-native soil organisms into Antarctica on construction vehicles

Abstract: Antarctic terrestrial ecosystems currently include very few non-native species, due to the continent's extreme isolation from other landmasses.

Cited by 96 publications

References 48 publications

Defining the biosecurity risk posed by transported soil: Effects of storage time and environmental exposure on survival of soil biota

Defining the biosecurity risk posed by transported soil: Effects of storage time and environmental exposure on survival of soil biota

Trends in Antarctic ecological research in Latin America shown by publications in international journals

Microbiology of Eutrophic (Ornithogenic and Hydrocarbon-Contaminated) Soil

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