World's oceans face marine 'invaders' threat

Marine invaders under the sea

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Tuesday, 11, Nov 2008 05:33

Marine biodiversity in the ocean is seriously threatened by advancing marine invading species, a conference has heard.

The first global conference on the issue heard yesterday that marine invasive species advance 50km per decade, posing a deadly threat to the ocean's ecosystems.

The invasive species, macroalgae propagules, has dispersed rapidly because of climate change. Invasive species are non-indigenous and adversely affect the habitats they invade economically, environmentally or ecologically.

"The impacts of the pressure of climate change are particularly dramatic, according to results presented at the conference, in the abrupt deterioration of the Arctic and coral reefs," Spanish Council of Scientific Research (CSIC) scientist Carlos Duarte said.

"Climate change may deliver the coupe de grace for a catastrophic collapse".

Rudolf de Groot from Wageningen University, the Netherlands, calculated the cost of protecting at least 20 to 30 per cent of the costal ecosystem might cost up to $19 billion (£12.3 billion) a year.

The conference in Valencia will see over 500 scientists from roughly 45 countries meet to discuss the consequences of the macroalgae propagules invasion.

Mr Duarte added: "Overwhelming evidence of an accelerating deterioration of the oceans has provided the impetus to call the marine biodiversity scientific community together in this first world conference."

During this conference 160 expert taxonomists worked to identity and describe all of the marine species. Their goal is to have a complete world registry of marine species by 2010.

"We hope to find genes that can be useful to the pharmaceutical industry, medicine, the production of biofuels, bioremediation, etc. What's more, a greater understanding of this diversity, hidden until now, will help us understand better the evolution of life," said Pedros-Alio, CSIC researcher in Barcelona.

New technological advances including the submarines, remotely operated vehicles (ROV) and autonomous vehicles (AUV) have escalated the process of deep-sea research in recent years.