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Penguins and Seals Create Invertebrate Hotspots On Antarctica...With Poop

In Antarctica, researchers have found patches of life, sustained in large part by droppings from seals and penguins. Changes in those populations could have ripple effects down the ecosystem.
A Gentoo penguin (Pygoscelis Papua) walks across the rocky beach at Yankee Harbour in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica.

In Antarctica, researchers have found areas rich with moss, lichen, and small-scale life, sustained in large part by elephant seal and penguin droppings.

, an ecologist at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and lead author of the study that appears in says the biological hotspots are generally centered

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