CLIMATE INVASIVES - Minimizing the negative effects of climate change-induced spread of invasive alien species to marine protected areas

Research Project, 2022 – 2024

Climate change leads to that the earth´s climate zones move towards the poles, which in turn leads to range shifts in many marine species and enables that alien species spread more easily and faster to new areas. When species establish themselves and possibly becoming invasive, they affect the local ecosystems negatively. As marine protected areas can offer a refuge for threatened species from the negative impacts of invasive alien species (IAS) it is fundamental to focus the limited resources for management and control measures against IAS to protected areas.This project will link climate ocean models (with special focus on extreme weather conditions as marine heat waves and ice winters), earth observation, marine vessel traffic data and species dispersal models with the risk of spreading invasive alien species (IAS) to marine protected areas.It aims to develop risk assessments for new introductions to and from so called “invasion hubs” (particularly favorable areas) and subsequent spread to marine protected areas facilitated by climate change in the waters between Sweden, Norway and Denmark. Furthermore, it aims to develop management advice on how local stakeholders in a region that span over several countries can manage and control IAS in protected areas to preserve its biodiversity. The Swedish part of the project will contribute with ocean climate models, analysis of vessel performance data, knowledge on population dynamics for invasion species and eradication methods.