Trans-arctic Invasion In Modern Times

摘要

In the perspective "The coming arctic invasion" (8 August, p. 780), G. J. Vermeij and P. D. Roopnarine discuss the possibility of trans-Arctic biological invasions caused by the recent episode of climate warming. We wish to add that this interoceanic exchange may have already begun (1). In 1999, the Continuous Plankton Recorder survey, a pan-oceanic long-term marine monitoring program (2), documented the presence of a Pacific diatom (Neodenticula seminae) in the Labrador/Irminger seas, between Canada and Greenland. This planktonic diatom is abundant in the cool waters of the North Pacific and the Bering Sea.