Invasive species hitchhike to Antarctica

Antarctica is an inhospitable place where survival cannot be taken for granted. Temperatures of minus 35 degrees Celsius are not uncommon in winter. Nevertheless, researchers keep coming across new animal and plant species that actually have no place on a continent made of ice and got there by hitching a ride.

Invasive Spezien bedrohen die fragilen Ökosysteme, wie dieser Seestern, der mit einem Stück Seegras an einem Strand in Neuseeland angespült wurde. Credit: UNSW / Ceridwen Fraser, University of Otago