Institute for Microbial Biotechnology and Metagenomics, University of the Western Cape, Bellville 7535, Cape Town, South Africa.
Trends Microbiol. 2011 Nov;19(11):540-8. doi: 10.1016/j.tim.2011.07.008. Epub 2011 Sep 4.
The Antarctic continent is frequently cited as the last pristine continent on Earth. However, this view is misleading for several reasons. First, there has been a rapid increase in visitors to Antarctica, with large increases at research bases and their environs and to sites of major tourist interest (e.g. historical sites and concentrations of megafauna). Second, although substantial efforts are made to avoid physical disturbance and contamination by chemical, human and other wastes at these sites, little has been done to prevent the introduction of non-indigenous microorganisms. Here, we analyse the extent and significance of anthropogenic introduction of microbial 'contaminants' to the Antarctic continent. We conclude that such processes are unlikely to have any immediate gross impact on microbiological community structure or function, but that increased efforts are required to protect the unique ecosystems of Antarctica from microbial and genetic contamination and homogenisation.
南极洲常被认为是地球上最后一片原始大陆。然而，这种观点存在几个误导性的原因。首先，前往南极洲的游客数量迅速增加，研究基地及其周边地区以及主要旅游景点（如历史遗迹和巨型动物群集中地）的游客数量大幅增加。其次，尽管在这些地点做出了很大努力来避免物理干扰和化学、人类和其他废物的污染，但几乎没有采取任何措施来防止非本地微生物的引入。在这里，我们分析了人为引入微生物“污染物”到南极洲的程度和意义。我们的结论是，这些过程不太可能对微生物群落结构或功能产生任何直接的重大影响，但需要加大努力保护南极洲独特的生态系统免受微生物和遗传污染及同质化的影响。
