PARIS, France — Extreme weather might be wreaking havoc across the globe, but some non-native plants and animals could be benefiting from the disasters, adding risk to already threatened local species, according to a new study Monday.
Heatwaves, droughts, floods and other extremes accelerated by global warming might be giving the often destructive invasive species an undesirable advantage, researchers found. The researchers looked at hundreds of previously-published studies on responses of 187 non-native and 1,852 native animal species to extreme weather patterns in different habitats.
Severe droughts, for example, increase the salt content of water, killing local invertebrates and fish while providing an opportunity for more salt-tolerant species to move in.