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At Antarctic Peninsula, Fast Change

Jessica Marshall, Discovery News

Without such predators to guard against, animals like snails and clams in Antarctica evolved delicate, thin shells. But as the ocean warms, crab predators may move in and have defenseless prey to capitalize on. A colony of king crabs was recently found in deeper waters off the peninsula.

"It's only a matter of time before they can move up into even shallower water," said lead author McClintock, who studies Antarctica's invertebrates. "When crabs get into those communities of clams and snails and brachiopods, they are going to be history."

McClintock notes that the reproductive cycle of invertebrates is also closely tied to temperature, and warming may lead to larvae hatching out of sync with the availability of their plankton food supply.

But, he adds, kelp-like macroalgae are likely to thrive with the greater availability of sunlight thanks to reduced sea ice. And jellyfish will probably also increase in number.

What is clear is that these populations are shifting fast in relation to one another, and the ecosystem that emerges will be different from the one that has existed in isolation for millions of years.

"People say, why Antarctica? Who cares about that?" Ducklow said. "It's a canary in the coal mine. We're seeing things happen rapidly there. It's a good wakeup call for us that there is climate change, and ecosystems really are responding to it."

Marine Biological Research Laboratory

Wildlife of Antarctica

Planet Green

Discovery Earth Live