Invasive Species: Extreme Weather May Support Non-Native Animals to Dominate Native Animals [Study]

Invasive species are living organisms, including animals and plants, that are not native to a particular area or ecosystem.

Prevailing research about these so-called "invaders" has led to significant economic and environmental damage as local wildlife can be decimated from their natural habitats.

In the United States, some of the well-known non-native animals include the Burmese pythons, which many believe to have been accidentally introduced into the country.

Previous scientific reports have been made regarding the relationship of invasive species with its environment and the climate, which are significant factors that allow non-native animals to thrive and dominate.

Now, a new study led by scientists in China and the US conducted a meta-analysis and revealed that extreme weather may support invasive species to dominate native animals.

Extreme Weather and Invasive Species

(Photo : Photo by Sebastian Unrau on Unsplash)

In the study published in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution on Monday, November 6, scientists found that non-native animals have less sensitivity to extreme weather worldwide than their nature counterparts.

This means that both invasive species and these events are the two major threats for global biodiversity, as they continue to increase in frequency and severity, the recent scientific report said.

In particular, the study showed that these alien species can resist events like droughts, cold spells, floods, heatwaves, and storms better than local wildlife.

The researchers concluded that the main drivers of these phenomena, climate change and global warming, are fueling the unwelcome intruders, regardless if they arrived in their new habitat by natural or anthropogenic means.

Also Read: Invasive Species May Beat Climate Change to Extinction of Endangered Plants

Metaregression Analyses

The research team, involved in the Nature Ecology & Evolution study, were able to determine that native animals are threatened by invasive species in the context of the climate crisis by synthesizing 443 studies.

In addition, the team applied multi-level, mixed-effects meta-analyses to compare the responses of 187 non-native species and 1,852 native animal species in different habitats across terrestrial, freshwater, and marine ecosystems to different kinds of extreme weather events.

How Native Animals are Threatened?

Results of the analyses show that marine animals, regardless if whether they are native or non-native, are generally insensitive to extreme weather events.

However, there is an exception for the negative impacts of heatwaves on native corals, mollusks, and anemone, the study adds.

In terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems, non-native animals are only negatively affected by extreme weather events like heatwaves and storms.

On the other hand, native animals are adversely affected by cold spells, drought, and heatwaves in terrestrial ecosystems.

Furthermore, local animals are vulnerable to most extreme weather events except for cold spells in freshwater ecosystems.

In separate yet related studies covered by Nature World News in September, scientists found that climate change is affecting invasive species in the US such as: