The Threat of Invasive Species in a Changing Climate

It may be hard to connect the concepts of invasive species and climate change at first sight. Yet, it is completely possible that climate change leads to an increased frequency in invasive species entering different ecosystems.

Climate change changes the temperature and precipitation patterns around the globe, thereby altering the geographic distribution of different biomes. This allows certain species to be able to survive in and migrate to regions that they have never been in before. Thus, climate change causes organisms to enter the habitats of other species.

If the foreign species new to the habitat outcompetes the native species, then the foreign species become an invasive species. This means that the native species is likely threatened in population and would be extinct in the habitat if they are completely eliminated in competition with the invasive species.

In this way, climate change cause the introduction of invasive species to different biomes and threaten the population of native species in the invaded biomes.