Climate Change Helps Invasive Species Spread

Climate change is impacting invasive species in many ways, including:

• Creating new pathways for invasive species to be introduced, such as new shipping routes that open up as sea ice retreats.
• Increasing CO2 levels, making some invasive plants more competitive and making herbicides less effective
• Causing range shifts as invasive species expand their range into habitats once too cool for them.
• Allowing earlier and longer emergence of pests due to extended growing seasons
• Creating new opportunities for invasions through extreme events like wildfires and hurricanes

Graphic created by ORISE Fellow, Ben Slyngstad.