Ecosystem health in Pacific Islands is threatened by the independent and interacting impacts of invasive species and climate change. Humans intentionally and unintentionally facilitate the introduction of potentially harmful species globally through trade, tourism, and migration. Meanwhile, climate change presents short-, medium-, and long-term risks to Pacific ecosystems and the communities that depend on them, such as sea-level rise, warming air and ocean temperatures, changing precipitation, and increased frequency and intensity of storms and cyclones. Together, climate change can make some ecosystems more vulnerable to new arrivals or expand the ranges of existing invasive species, yet limited research on this subject has been conducted in Pacific Islands. This project, led by Pacific RISA Co-Lead Laura Brewington, focuses on increasing Pacific Island resilience to the interacting threats of climate change and invasive species.
The Nature Conservancy installs fencing to exclude invasive pigs and goats from Hawaii’s upper watersheds and protect water resources under a changing climate. Credit: The Nature Conservancy
Project Themes
Local Research on Climate Change and Invasive Species
There is a clear need for better understanding of the intersection between climate change, invasive species, and their impacts in the Pacific Islands region. In 2020, PI Brewington co-founded the Pacific Regional Invasive Species and Climate Change (RISCC) management network in collaboration with the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the Pacific Islands Climate Adaptation Science Center (PI-CASC), the Hawaiʻi Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR), and the Hawaiʻi Coordinating Group on Alien Pest Species (CGAPS). The group was later expanded to include representation from each US-Affiliated Pacific Island jurisdiction and a dedicated science coordinator position. In partnership with the Micronesia Conservation Trust, a research specialist focusing on the intersection between climate change and invasive species will soon join the team as well.
In 2021, the group published a report that summarized the findings from a survey of natural resource managers in Hawaiʻi about the influence of climate change on invasive species management, comparing their access to and understanding of existing downscaled climate information, and identifying barriers to success in incorporating climate change into management practices. As a result of the survey findings, local research and outreach on the dual drivers of ecosystem change (climate change and invasive species) is being tailored according to the needs of natural resource managers in the region to aid in the development and implementation of climate-adaptive management practices. Now with over 350 members, Pacific RISCC’s activities are contributing to stakeholder/natural resource manager successes in incorporating climate change into management practices.
Climate change and invasive species exert dual threats on ecosystems, livelihoods, and communities in the Pacific. Click on the image to download the latest Pacific RISCC publication: “Pacific Island Perspectives on Invasive Species and Climate Change”
PI Brewington also led the publication of a recent book chapter on island sustainability that describes the state of knowledge and the compounding impacts of these two threats in the region. The authors present two regional case studies as examples of how Pacific RISCC research is promoting Pacific Island resilience and sustainable outcomes through climate-literate resource management.
In 2022, PI Brewington was appointed to the Invasive Species Advisory Committee (ISAC), which advises US Federal Government agencies on priority invasive species issues, both regionally and nationally. She joined an ISAC subcommittee on climate change that reviewed federal policies and action plans around climate change, and in 2024 they published a white paper outlining how US ecosystems, communities, and economies can become more resilient to the impacts of climate change by taking action on invasive species priority issues.
Other than climate change, no issue has greater potential to impact our economies, precious natural heritage, food security, and ecosystem resilience than invasive species
~Tommy Remengesau Jr., 9th President of Palau
Pacific-Wide Strategies
In addition to targeted, locally-relevant research, coordinated Pacific-wide strategies are urgently needed to detect and suppress the most damaging regional and international threats in the context of a changing climate. Since 2017, PI Brewington has represented the Pacific RISA as a member of the Pacific Invasives Partnership (PIP), promoting a coordinated regional approach to international biosecurity and natural resources management.
Through the PIP and with funding from the Pacific RISA program, PI Brewington began preparations for the first Pacific Ecological Security Conference (PESC) that was held in Palau in 2022. Hosted by the Government of Palau and sponsored by the East-West Center, The Nature Conservancy, the Pacific Community, and the Office of Insular Affairs, the PESC brought together Pacific Island leaders, development partners, regional organizations, agriculture and food security experts, and natural resource managers to develop three Pacific-wide, fully vetted, scientifically-based Strategic Action Plans that address critical invasive species issues facing the region. Tailored for coconut rhinoceros beetles, invasive ants, and biocontrol needs, the Plans included arrival and distribution pathways, biocontrol objectives, and interactions with environmental change, food and water security, and human health. Momentum initiated at the PESC has already been translated into concrete legislative outcomes: At the Association of Pacific Island Legislatures (APIL) meeting in 2022, Resolution 39-GA-15 was passed to endorse and support invasive species management, control, and eradication in Micronesia, and all PESC outcomes and recommendations were endorsed by the Micronesian Islands Forum in 2023.
Mangroves form a crucial natural buffer from storms, rising sea levels, and strong wave events in some Pacific Islands countries, like Palau. Photo credit: US Geological Survey
Research Team
Dr. Laura Brewington, Pacific RISA Co-Lead Investigator, Arizona State University and the East-West Center
Partners
The Pacific Islands Climate Adaptation Science Center, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Coordinating Group on Alien Pest Species, the Hawaiʻi Invasive Species Council, The Nature Conservancy, the Micronesia Regional Invasive Species Council*, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Office of Insular Affairs, Guam Department of Agriculture, the University of Guam, and the Pacific Invasives Partnership. *The Regional Invasive Species Council (RISC) – represents Hawaiʻi, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, and Palau.
Brewington, L., Eichelberger, B., Reed, N., Parsons, E., Kerkering, H., Martin, C., Miles, W., Idechong, J., & Burgett, J. (2023). Pacific Island perspectives on invasive species and climate change. In S.J. Walsh, C.F. Mena, J.R. Stewart, J.P. Muñoz Pérez (Eds): Island Ecosystems. Social and Ecological Interactions in the Galapagos Islands. Cham: Springer, pp. 59–78. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28089-4_5.
Brewington, L., Burgett, J., Martin, C., Kerkering, H., & Arnott, C. (2021). When Invasive Species and Climate Change Intersect: Survey of Hawaiʻi Natural Resource Managers. Honolulu: The Pacific Regional Invasive Species and Climate Change Management Network. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7735287.
Keener, V. W., Helweg, D. A., Asam, S., Balwani, S., Burkett, M., Fletcher, C., . . . Tribble, G. (2018). Ch. 27: Hawai‘i and U.S. Affiliated Pacific Islands. In The Fourth National Climate Assessment Impacts, Risks, and Adaptation in the United States: Fourth National Climate Assessment, Volume II (pp. 1242-1308). Washington: US Global Change Research Program.
Lodge, D. M., Williams, S., MacIsaac, H. J., Hayes, K. R., Leung, B., Reichard, S., . . . McMichael, A. (2006). Biological invasions: Recommendations for U.S. policy and management. Ecological Applications, 16(6), 2035-2054. doi: 10.1890/1051-0761(2006)016[2035:birfup]2.0.co;2.
Resilient and sustainable Pacific Island communities using climate information to manage risks and support practical decision-making about climate variability and change.
Invasive Species & Climate Change
Ecosystem health in Pacific Islands is threatened by the independent and interacting impacts of invasive species and climate change. Humans intentionally and unintentionally facilitate the introduction of potentially harmful species globally through trade, tourism, and migration. Meanwhile, climate change presents short-, medium-, and long-term risks to Pacific ecosystems and the communities that depend on them, such as sea-level rise, warming air and ocean temperatures, changing precipitation, and increased frequency and intensity of storms and cyclones. Together, climate change can make some ecosystems more vulnerable to new arrivals or expand the ranges of existing invasive species, yet limited research on this subject has been conducted in Pacific Islands. This project, led by Pacific RISA Co-Lead Laura Brewington, focuses on increasing Pacific Island resilience to the interacting threats of climate change and invasive species.
Project Themes
Local Research on Climate Change and Invasive Species
There is a clear need for better understanding of the intersection between climate change, invasive species, and their impacts in the Pacific Islands region. In 2020, PI Brewington co-founded the Pacific Regional Invasive Species and Climate Change (RISCC) management network in collaboration with the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the Pacific Islands Climate Adaptation Science Center (PI-CASC), the Hawaiʻi Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR), and the Hawaiʻi Coordinating Group on Alien Pest Species (CGAPS). The group was later expanded to include representation from each US-Affiliated Pacific Island jurisdiction and a dedicated science coordinator position. In partnership with the Micronesia Conservation Trust, a research specialist focusing on the intersection between climate change and invasive species will soon join the team as well.
In 2021, the group published a report that summarized the findings from a survey of natural resource managers in Hawaiʻi about the influence of climate change on invasive species management, comparing their access to and understanding of existing downscaled climate information, and identifying barriers to success in incorporating climate change into management practices. As a result of the survey findings, local research and outreach on the dual drivers of ecosystem change (climate change and invasive species) is being tailored according to the needs of natural resource managers in the region to aid in the development and implementation of climate-adaptive management practices. Now with over 350 members, Pacific RISCC’s activities are contributing to stakeholder/natural resource manager successes in incorporating climate change into management practices.
PI Brewington also led the publication of a recent book chapter on island sustainability that describes the state of knowledge and the compounding impacts of these two threats in the region. The authors present two regional case studies as examples of how Pacific RISCC research is promoting Pacific Island resilience and sustainable outcomes through climate-literate resource management.
In 2022, PI Brewington was appointed to the Invasive Species Advisory Committee (ISAC), which advises US Federal Government agencies on priority invasive species issues, both regionally and nationally. She joined an ISAC subcommittee on climate change that reviewed federal policies and action plans around climate change, and in 2024 they published a white paper outlining how US ecosystems, communities, and economies can become more resilient to the impacts of climate change by taking action on invasive species priority issues.
Pacific-Wide Strategies
In addition to targeted, locally-relevant research, coordinated Pacific-wide strategies are urgently needed to detect and suppress the most damaging regional and international threats in the context of a changing climate. Since 2017, PI Brewington has represented the Pacific RISA as a member of the Pacific Invasives Partnership (PIP), promoting a coordinated regional approach to international biosecurity and natural resources management.
Through the PIP and with funding from the Pacific RISA program, PI Brewington began preparations for the first Pacific Ecological Security Conference (PESC) that was held in Palau in 2022. Hosted by the Government of Palau and sponsored by the East-West Center, The Nature Conservancy, the Pacific Community, and the Office of Insular Affairs, the PESC brought together Pacific Island leaders, development partners, regional organizations, agriculture and food security experts, and natural resource managers to develop three Pacific-wide, fully vetted, scientifically-based Strategic Action Plans that address critical invasive species issues facing the region. Tailored for coconut rhinoceros beetles, invasive ants, and biocontrol needs, the Plans included arrival and distribution pathways, biocontrol objectives, and interactions with environmental change, food and water security, and human health. Momentum initiated at the PESC has already been translated into concrete legislative outcomes: At the Association of Pacific Island Legislatures (APIL) meeting in 2022, Resolution 39-GA-15 was passed to endorse and support invasive species management, control, and eradication in Micronesia, and all PESC outcomes and recommendations were endorsed by the Micronesian Islands Forum in 2023.
Research Team
Dr. Laura Brewington, Pacific RISA Co-Lead Investigator, Arizona State University and the East-West Center
Partners
The Pacific Islands Climate Adaptation Science Center, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Coordinating Group on Alien Pest Species, the Hawaiʻi Invasive Species Council, The Nature Conservancy, the Micronesia Regional Invasive Species Council*, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Office of Insular Affairs, Guam Department of Agriculture, the University of Guam, and the Pacific Invasives Partnership.
*The Regional Invasive Species Council (RISC) – represents Hawaiʻi, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, and Palau.
Project Links
The Pacific RISCC Management Network
Recommendations for Building US Resilience to Climate Change by Taking Action on Invasive Species
The 2022 Pacific Ecological Security Conference
Hawaii Makes History for the Birds
Relevant Publications
[Greenwood, L., Brewington, L., Rodgers, L., and Zajicek, P.] Invasive Species Advisory Committee. (2024). Invasive Species Threaten the Success of Climate Change Adaptation Efforts. Adopted Nov 15, 2023. Washington, DC: National Invasive Species Council. Available at: https://www.doi.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2024-02/isac-climate-change-white-paper-november-2023.pdf.Brewington, L., Eichelberger, B., Reed, N., Parsons, E., Kerkering, H., Martin, C., Miles, W., Idechong, J., & Burgett, J. (2023). Pacific Island perspectives on invasive species and climate change. In S.J. Walsh, C.F. Mena, J.R. Stewart, J.P. Muñoz Pérez (Eds): Island Ecosystems. Social and Ecological Interactions in the Galapagos Islands. Cham: Springer, pp. 59–78. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28089-4_5.
Brewington, L., Burgett, J., Martin, C., Kerkering, H., & Arnott, C. (2021). When Invasive Species and Climate Change Intersect: Survey of Hawaiʻi Natural Resource Managers. Honolulu: The Pacific Regional Invasive Species and Climate Change Management Network. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7735287.
Ad Hoc Working Group on Invasive Species and Climate Change. (2014). Bioinvasions in a changing world: A resource on invasive species-climate change interactions for conservation and natural resource management.
Fortini, L. B., & Jacobi, J. D. (2018). Identifying opportunities for long-lasting habitat conservation and restoration in Hawaii’s shifting climate. Regional Environmental Change, 18(8), 2391-2402. doi: 10.1007/s10113-018-1342-6.
Hellmann, J. J., Byers, J. E., Bierwagen, B. G., & Dukes, J. S. (2008). Five potential consequences of climate change for invasive species. Conservation Biology, 22(3), 534-543. doi: 10.1111/j.1523-1739.2008.00951.x.
Keener, V. W., Helweg, D. A., Asam, S., Balwani, S., Burkett, M., Fletcher, C., . . . Tribble, G. (2018). Ch. 27: Hawai‘i and U.S. Affiliated Pacific Islands. In The Fourth National Climate Assessment Impacts, Risks, and Adaptation in the United States: Fourth National Climate Assessment, Volume II (pp. 1242-1308). Washington: US Global Change Research Program.
Levine, J. M., & D’Antonio, C. M. (2003). Forecasting biological invasions with increasing international trade. Conservation Biology, 17(1), 322-326. doi: 10.1046/j.1523-1739.2003.02038.x.
Lodge, D. M., Williams, S., MacIsaac, H. J., Hayes, K. R., Leung, B., Reichard, S., . . . McMichael, A. (2006). Biological invasions: Recommendations for U.S. policy and management. Ecological Applications, 16(6), 2035-2054. doi: 10.1890/1051-0761(2006)016[2035:birfup]2.0.co;2.
Pouteau, R., & Birnbaum, P. (2016). Island biodiversity hotspots are getting hotter: Vulnerability of tree species to climate change in New Caledonia. Biological Conservation, 201, 111-119. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2016.06.031.
Pyke, C., Thomas, R., Porter, R., Hellmann, J., Dukes, J., Lodge, D., & Chavarria, G. (2008). Current practices and future opportunities for policy on climate change and invasive species. Conservation Biology, 22, 585-592. doi: 10.1111/j.1523-1739.2008.00956.x.
Taylor, S., & Kumar, L. (2014). Climate change and weed impacts on small island ecosystems: Lantana camara L. (Magnoliopsida: Verbenaceae) distribution in Fiji. Pacific Science, 68(1), 117-133. doi: 10.2984/68.1.11.
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Resilient and sustainable Pacific Island communities using climate information to manage risks and support practical decision-making about climate variability and change.
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