Thousands of Alien Species Could Invade the Arctic - Norway at Risk

Over 2,500 plant species could potentially establish themselves in the Arctic and pose a threat to the species that belong here. The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) considers alien species one of the biggest threats to global biodiversity.

Researchers have now mapped which alien species could pose a threat.

"Our results show that alien species from all over the world could find a niche in the Arctic. With all the human activity, there are very many paths of contamination into the Arctic at the moment," says Kristine Bakke Westergaard, researcher at the Institute of Natural History at the NTNU University Museum, to Forskning.no.

Arctic Warming Makes Weather in the North Last Longer

Particularly relevant

Together with colleagues from NTNU and the University of Liverpool, Westergaard has conducted a so-called "horizon scan." The researchers examined 14,000 known alien species capable of spreading beyond their natural habitat.

Data from more than 51 million registered occurrences were used to create a map to show where in the Arctic these species could endure the climate.

Tor Henrik Ulsted, who started the work as a master student at the NTNU University Museum, explains that Norway is among the areas that stand out:

"Our map shows hot-spot areas in the Arctic, where many alien species could handle the climate. This is especially true for Northern Norway, Alaska, Southwest Greenland, Northern Iceland, and Northwest Russia," says Ulsted.

"Even in High-Arctic Svalbard, we see that 86 foreign species could find a climatic niche," says Westerhaard, who has found and examined foreign species in Svalbard himself.

Easier to assess risk

Climate change is making conditions in the North increasingly more favorable for species that have not been able to survive here before. This means that the risk of establishment is increasing. 

At the same time, expert committees have long struggled to obtain an overview of which species should be subject to risk assessment. This new methodology makes this easier, and the experts can now use the species list as a basis for assessing the ecological risk of each species.

"Our long-term goal is to contribute to identifying alien species before they are invasive and problematic," says Ulsted.

Westergaard explains that the work supports target six of the Global Biodiversity Framework, which is to reduce the threat of invasive alien species by 50% within 2030. This is also in line with the Norwegian authorities' measure plan against alien species.