Linking Climate Change and Invasive Species Policies

Whether through habitat fragmentation, shifting temperature regimes, opening up new invasion pathways, or other mechanisms, climate change will deeply affect invasive species management. ELI studies the interactions between climate change and invasive species management and works to increase consideration of climate in aquatic invasive species management and to guide development of policies for movement of species internationally.

Projects

• Predicting the effects of climate change on invasive species policy: In 2006, ELI convened leading invasive species scientists and managers to identify aquatic invasive species research and policy needs in the context of global climate change. ELI and its partners used these insights to publish a special section in Conservation Biology; together, these articles have been cited more than 120 times.
  
  
• Building climate change into aquatic invasive species management: Working with the EPA's Global Change Research Program, ELI studied how state aquatic invasive species management plans adapt to changing climate and other variables. The resulting report, published in 2008, identified a clear need to imporve adaptive capacity and recommended steps to better integrate climate change into the management planning process.

Publications

• Effects of Climate Change on Aquatic Invasive Species. The interaction of climate change and aquatic invasive species is not well understood. This ELI-authored report recommends ways in which state can consider climate change in their aquatic invasive species management plans.

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