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https://theconversation.com/biosecurity-policies-can-be-annoying-but-a-century-of-antarctic-data-shows-they-work-252494>
"Visitors to Australia are often shocked at having to declare an apple or
wooden item under our biosecurity policies. Biosecurity policies are used to
keep out pest species and diseases. But they’re expensive to uphold and people
can question their worth.
The good news is, they work – and Antarctica’s strict biosecurity policies
prove it.
Under the web of agreements governing Antarctica, cargo must be checked for any
sign of plants, seeds, insects and rodents. Visitors must ensure the items they
bring are clean.
In our new research, we analysed a century of data on how many species have
been introduced to the icy continent and surrounding sub-Antarctic islands.
Though there’s little human presence here, many species have been introduced
and several have established – including rodents, aphids, and weedy plants – in
a surprisingly short time. But across most sub-Antarctic islands, we found the
rate of introduced species has remained steady, or slowed, after biosecurity
policies were introduced, even as more humans arrived.
The exception was the Antarctic continent itself, where species introductions
are increasing. This is likely due to surging visitor numbers and inconsistent
biosecurity efforts between different nations and tourist operators.
Our work shows biosecurity policies work – if they’re followed."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
