London, Jun 29.- Areas of Antarctica devoid of ice could increase by up to 25 percent by the end of the century because of climate change, leading to drastic changes in the continent's biodiversity, according to new research.
Ice-free zones currently represent less than one percent of the surface of the white continent and are home to almost all of its fauna and flora.
A study by the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD), the first to investigate the impact of climate change on ice-free areas in Antarctica, predicts that these areas will expand and unite.
AAD researcher Aleks Terauds said the prediction indicates that by 2100, ice could disappear in a further 17,267 square kilometers (6,666 sq miles), representing an increase of around 25 percent on current levels.
'While this might provide new areas for native species to colonize, it could also result in the spread of invasive species and, in the long term, the extinction of less competitive native species,' Terauds said in a statement by AAD.
He added that the thaw would mainly affect the Antarctic Peninsula and the east coast of the continent.
Another researcher noted that unlike earlier studies focusing on the reduction of the ice layer and its potential impact on rising sea-levels, the new work focuses on the effects on the continent's biodiversity.
He said ice-free regions currently range from one square kilometer to several thousand kilometers, which are all important breeding areas for seals and seabirds as well as homes of invertebrates, fungi and endemic lichens.
The research, published Thursday by the journal Nature, was presented to the Committee for Environmental Protection during the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting held in May in China.