{
  "id": 17832936,
  "title": "Ancient environmental DNA reveals the distinct fingerprints of whaling and climate change on Antarctic marine biodiversity",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/02/ancient-environmental-dna-reveals-the-distinct-fingerprints-of",
  "topic": "science",
  "section": "Science",
  "published": "2026-11-02T00:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "bioRxiv",
    "slug": "biorxiv",
    "url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.30.763115v1?rss=1"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The Southern Ocean, a vital contributor to Earth's essential processes, transports carbon, oxygen, and heat throughout the globe. This expansive region is home to a rich variety of marine life, a testament to its significant biological productivity. However, the course of Antarctic ecosystems has been irrevocably altered by two major forces: industrial whaling in the early 20th century and contemporary human-induced climate change. Yet, previous ecological surveys have been confined to a narrow range of known species, failing to capture the broader spectrum of biodiversity changes that have unfolded over centuries. In this study, researchers delved into sediment records spanning more than 200 years to reconstruct the ecological transformations in the Western Antarctic Peninsula, both prior to and during periods of significant human interference. Through a technique called environmental DNA metabarcoding, they were able to uncover substantial shifts in biodiversity, with the pace of change accelerating in recent decades. This analysis revealed that both climate change and whaling played crucial roles in reshaping community structures, with each driver exerting a distinct influence. Interestingly, the study also highlighted a negative correlation between whaling activities and families of metazoans that primarily feed from the water column, indicating that pre-whaling ecosystems boasted greater pelagic productivity. Ultimately, these findings provide a glimpse into the original biodiversity of Antarctica, existing long before the advent of observational records, and shed light on the unique fingerprints left by human activities in this delicate and rapidly evolving ecosystem.",
  "summary": "The Southern Ocean is a disproportionately large contributor to Earth system processes, playing a crucial role in the global transport of carbon, oxygen and heat. It also hosts enormous seasonal biological productivity that supports diverse endemic marine biodiversity. Industrial whaling in the first half of the 20th century and recent human-driven climate change have both profoundly altered…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}