“Unacceptable Costs”: Managing for biological invasions and climate risks in the US Pacific Islands

This seminar will describe how the impacts of climate change and non-native, invasive species are inextricably linked in this region and introduce a new management network that is working at the intersection of these threats to build resilience.

Biological invasions cause severe and persistent damage to US Pacific Island communities, fundamentally altering natural and built landscapes while undermining the resilience that is needed to deliver climate solutions. Like climate change, invasive species impacts present “unacceptable costs”, often having disproportionate impacts on the most vulnerable communities and their members. Fueled by invasive grasses and drought, for example, the recent wildfire crisis in Hawaiʻi was the deadliest fire in the US in over 100 years and caused at least $5.5 billion in damages to homes, infrastructure, and ecosystems.

To help communities and decision makers in the US Pacific Islands region build resilience to the interacting threats of climate change and invasive species, the Pacific Regional Invasive Species and Climate Change (Pacific RISCC) Management Network was established in 2020. One of five RISCC networks in the US, the Pacific RISCC is a network of over 400 federal, regional, and local scientists and natural resource managers providing information, tools, and capacity that collectively reduce the risks associated with climate change and invasive species across a region that spans millions of square miles of ocean.