USGS Biologist Wes Bickford cutting invasive Phragmites australis underwater. Credit: Spencer Widin, USGS
How does climate change affect the challenge of invasive species?
Changing climate conditions have bearing on every aspect of biological invasions, in some cases worsening existing problems. Climate change is creating new pathways for invasive species to be introduced, such as shipping routes that open up as sea ice retreats. Warmer temperatures can allow existing invasive species to expand their range into habitat that is currently too cool. Similarly, impacts to native species and people may change if new conditions affect invasive species abundance. Climate change may make existing invasive species control tools less effective, such as aquatic barriers that require minimum water flows.
Related Content
What is an invasive species and why are they a problem?
An invasive species is an introduced, nonnative organism (disease, parasite, plant, or animal) that begins to spread or expand its range from the site of its original introduction and that has the potential to cause harm to the environment, the economy, or to human health. A few well-known examples include the unintentional introduction of the West Nile virus, chestnut blight, the South American...
Can invasive pythons be eradicated?
The odds of eradicating an introduced population of reptiles once it has spread across a large area is very low – pointing to the importance of prevention, early detection, and rapid response. With the Burmese python now distributed across more than a thousand square miles of southern Florida, including all of Everglades National Park and across the southern coast to Rookery Bay National Estuarine...
What is buffelgrass?
Buffelgrass is a perennial grass from Africa that is invasive to the Sonoran Desert of the Southwest United States, where it threatens desert ecosystems by out-competing native plants and altering fire regimes. It has the potential to transform the Sonoran Desert ecosystem from a diverse assemblage of plants to a grassland monoculture. Buffelgrass was brought to Arizona in the 1930s for erosion...
What are snakeheads?
Snakeheads are air-breathing freshwater fishes that are not native to North America. In scientific terms, snakeheads are divided into two distinct genera: Channa (snakeheads of Asia, Malaysia, and Indonesia) Parachanna (African snakeheads) In the summer of 2002 and again in late spring 2004, Channa argus , the northern snakehead, generated national media attention when anglers caught this fish in...
How far has Chinese tallow spread in the United States?
Chinese tallow has been cultivated in nurseries and sold as an ornamental tree used for landscaping; however, it is now classified as a nuisance species in some locations and can no longer be sold. It has separate pollen and seed-bearing flowers, and seeds can be spread by birds and by moving water. Chinese tallow has spread from South Carolina all the way down to Florida, west into Texas, and has...
Cutting Down an Invasive Species
USGS Biologist Wes Bickford cutting invasive Phragmites australis underwater. Credit: Spencer Widin, USGS
Snakehead Fish
Snakehead fish are originally from China and Korea, but recently they've been found in Maryland, Virginia, Arkansas, California, and Florida.
Snakehead fish are originally from China and Korea, but recently they've been found in Maryland, Virginia, Arkansas, California, and Florida.
Burmese python hatchling
Non-native Burmese pythons have established a breeding population in South Florida and are one of the most concerning invasive species in Everglades National Park. This photograph is of a Burmese python hatchling
Non-native Burmese pythons have established a breeding population in South Florida and are one of the most concerning invasive species in Everglades National Park. This photograph is of a Burmese python hatchling
Chinese Tallow tree, Triadica sebifera
Part of a floristics inventory that was conducted to identify and photograph the vascular plants occurring at Caddo Lake National Wildlife Refuge (NWR), Texas, from March 2011 to March 2012 by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the U.S.
Part of a floristics inventory that was conducted to identify and photograph the vascular plants occurring at Caddo Lake National Wildlife Refuge (NWR), Texas, from March 2011 to March 2012 by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the U.S.
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- FAQ
What is an invasive species and why are they a problem?
An invasive species is an introduced, nonnative organism (disease, parasite, plant, or animal) that begins to spread or expand its range from the site of its original introduction and that has the potential to cause harm to the environment, the economy, or to human health. A few well-known examples include the unintentional introduction of the West Nile virus, chestnut blight, the South American...
Can invasive pythons be eradicated?
The odds of eradicating an introduced population of reptiles once it has spread across a large area is very low – pointing to the importance of prevention, early detection, and rapid response. With the Burmese python now distributed across more than a thousand square miles of southern Florida, including all of Everglades National Park and across the southern coast to Rookery Bay National Estuarine...
What is buffelgrass?
Buffelgrass is a perennial grass from Africa that is invasive to the Sonoran Desert of the Southwest United States, where it threatens desert ecosystems by out-competing native plants and altering fire regimes. It has the potential to transform the Sonoran Desert ecosystem from a diverse assemblage of plants to a grassland monoculture. Buffelgrass was brought to Arizona in the 1930s for erosion...
What are snakeheads?
Snakeheads are air-breathing freshwater fishes that are not native to North America. In scientific terms, snakeheads are divided into two distinct genera: Channa (snakeheads of Asia, Malaysia, and Indonesia) Parachanna (African snakeheads) In the summer of 2002 and again in late spring 2004, Channa argus , the northern snakehead, generated national media attention when anglers caught this fish in...
How far has Chinese tallow spread in the United States?
Chinese tallow has been cultivated in nurseries and sold as an ornamental tree used for landscaping; however, it is now classified as a nuisance species in some locations and can no longer be sold. It has separate pollen and seed-bearing flowers, and seeds can be spread by birds and by moving water. Chinese tallow has spread from South Carolina all the way down to Florida, west into Texas, and has...
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Cutting Down an Invasive Species
USGS Biologist Wes Bickford cutting invasive Phragmites australis underwater. Credit: Spencer Widin, USGS
USGS Biologist Wes Bickford cutting invasive Phragmites australis underwater. Credit: Spencer Widin, USGS
Snakehead FishSnakehead fish are originally from China and Korea, but recently they've been found in Maryland, Virginia, Arkansas, California, and Florida.
Snakehead fish are originally from China and Korea, but recently they've been found in Maryland, Virginia, Arkansas, California, and Florida.
Burmese python hatchlingNon-native Burmese pythons have established a breeding population in South Florida and are one of the most concerning invasive species in Everglades National Park. This photograph is of a Burmese python hatchling
Non-native Burmese pythons have established a breeding population in South Florida and are one of the most concerning invasive species in Everglades National Park. This photograph is of a Burmese python hatchling
Chinese Tallow tree, Triadica sebiferaPart of a floristics inventory that was conducted to identify and photograph the vascular plants occurring at Caddo Lake National Wildlife Refuge (NWR), Texas, from March 2011 to March 2012 by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the U.S.
Part of a floristics inventory that was conducted to identify and photograph the vascular plants occurring at Caddo Lake National Wildlife Refuge (NWR), Texas, from March 2011 to March 2012 by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the U.S.
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