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Nature 408, 637 (7 December 2000) | doi:10.1038/35047268

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Island-hopping invaders hitch a ride with tourists in South Georgia

Steven L. Chown1 & Kevin J. Gaston2

  1. Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0002, South Africa
  2. Biodiversity and Macroecology Group, Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S10 2TN, UK

Southern Ocean islands have long been considered to represent globally significant examples of pristine environments, important for the conservation of intact ecosystems. This is about to change because of environmental pressure arising from an escalation of tourism to the region (15,000 tourists in 1999)1, marked climate change, and consequent increases in the impacts of invasive species2.