Bridging Climate-Smart and Invasive Fish Management for New Jersey

Climate change is expected to severely alter aquatic ecosystems in the Mid-Atlantic US states, including increasing water temperatures, reducing average stream flow, and increasing the severity of rainstorms and flash flooding. As is the case with several other human-driven threats to freshwater ecosystems, climate change will act as a “threat multiplier,” intensifying the adverse effects of invasive species while also acting to facilitate new invasions. Aquatic invasive species cost the global economy US$345 billion per year and these costs are expected to increase exponentially in the coming decades. Invasive fish managers will need to actively address a changing climate when conducting monitoring, eradication, and other invasive management efforts to ensure they remain effective.  

New Jersey has experienced a rise in the number of established aquatic invasive species over the last two decades and in response has made substantial advancements in coordinating control and management efforts across the state. Alterations to New Jersey’s thermal regimes, stream flows, and other climate change-driven impacts present both challenges and opportunities to tackle both novel and established invasive freshwater fishes in New Jersey.  

Dr. Julie Lockwood, Distinguished Professor, Rutgers University, and Director, Rutgers Climate and Energy Institute, and Dr. Mario Hernandez, Research Analyst, Rutgers University, will  explain what freshwater aquatic invasive species are, why we should care about them, how climate change is affecting their occurrence, distribution and impacts, and what feasible management actions New Jersey can take to address these impacts under a changing climate.