Earlier this month, an article I wrote was published in the Conversation discussing the implications of a recently published meta-analysis highlighting the risk extreme weather events pose to native biodiversity.
Extreme weather events are predicted to increase in regularity in the coming century under human-driven climatic change, posing increasing challenges for the protection of native biodiversity. Interactions between extreme weather events and invasive species have been observed in a number of recent studies (such as in this study), and could exacerbate impacts of non-native introductions on native biodiversity.
The study, published in Nature Ecology and Evolution, examined the responses of native and non-native animals to a range of extreme weather events (such as storms, wildfires, droughts) across the globe. They found that non-native species are in general more resistant to extreme weather events, and may therefore be better placed to capitalize and out compete native biodiversity following such events.
Studies such as this highlight how interactions between non-native species and other global change drivers may combine to threaten native biodiversity in the Anthropocene, and how we may not yet be able to see the full scale of these interactions and the threats they pose. Developing predictive models, such as in WP5 of AlienImpacts, that allow forecasting of species responses under new environmental conditions and to changing climatic conditions is therefore crucial to identify areas of native biodiversity most at risk and implement preventative and restorative measures that can protect native diversity in the future.
The Conversation article can be found here.
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