Integrating Climate Change Into Invasive Species Management: a Risk Assessment Survey Analysis to Identify Species of Concern
Abstract
Climate change is expected to influence the frequency and severity of biological invasions in a variety of ways, including creating novel introduction pathways, decreasing the resilience of native habitats, inducing range shifts and expansions, and altering phenologies. As such, it is important to gain a better understanding of how invasive species managers incorporate climate change in their management strategies and identify the invasive species that are expected to pose the greatest threat under climate change. To address these questions, the Regional Invasive Species and Climate Change Management Network surveyed invasive species researchers and managers across four regions of the continental U.S. (the Northeast, Southeast, North Central, and Northwest) to determine the invasive species of greatest concern. This analysis will identify and compare the invasive species most frequently reported by researchers and managers for each region and describe their ecologies.