Invasive species and climate change a ‘deadly duo’
By David Fogarty, Climate Change Correspondent, Asia
SINGAPORE | Fri Oct 22, 2010 3:25am EDT
(Reuters) – Climate change is set to drive the spread of invasive plant and animals species, threatening forests, fisheries and crops, in a double blow to nature and livelihoods, a World Bank-funded report [UPDATE: Archived here: pdf] said on Friday. The study by Nairobi-based Global Invasive Species Programme (GISP) [UPDATE: GISP has become Invasive Species Specialist Group] says a warmer world, more extreme weather and higher levels of planet-warming carbon dioxide will give some species an edge, devastating ecosystems at sea and on land. “The estimated damage from invasive species worldwide totals more than $1.4 trillion annually — 5 percent of the global economy,” says the report issued on the sidelines of a major U.N. meeting in Japan aimed at combating the destruction of nature. The United Nations says climate change, pollution, deforestation and over-hunting have led to a rapid rise in extinctions, threatening the richness of nature that underpins services such as clean air, water as well as food and health. “Individually, climate change and invasive species present two of the greatest threats to biodiversity and the provision of valuable ecosystem services,” says the report for policymakers. It outlines myriad examples of invasive plants and animals that have proven much more adept at survival than other local species, leading to erosion, damage to crops, livestock and fisheries and lost income for tourism. In particular, climate change can lead to some local species becoming much less able to adapt to warmer temperatures or more extreme droughts and floods, making them vulnerable to other species that have much greater tolerance levels. …
