Non-native plants and animals expanding ranges 100-times faster than native species
"An international team of scientists has recently found that non-native species are expanding their ranges many orders of magnitude faster than native ones, in large part due to inadvertent human help. Even seemingly sedentary non-native plants are moving at three times the speed of their native counterparts in a race where, because of the rapid pace of climate change and its effect on habitat, speed matters."
"To survive, plants and animals need to be shifting their ranges by 3.25 kilometers per year just to keep up with the increasing temperatures and associated climactic shifts—a speed that native species cannot manage without human help."
"We know that the numbers of invasive plant species are increasing exponentially worldwide...Plant nurseries are exacerbating the climate-driven spread of invasives and that confronting invasives is one of the best ways to prepare for climate change. What we wanted to find out is how fast both native and non-native species are moving right now, and how far could they go."
"Essentially...there's no chance for native species to keep up with climate change without human help...We need to seriously consider and begin implementing assisted migration"
And stop selling 'ornamental horticultural' invasive species.
And of course stop polluting our atmosphere by burning fossil fuels.
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https://phys.org/news/2024-06-native-animals-ranges-faster-species.html
#weeds #FossilFuels #biosecurity #NativeSpecies #conservation #ecology #ecosystems #restoration #biodiversity #PlantNurseries #HorticulturalIndustry #gardening #ornamentals #trade #climate #AssistedMigration
