Welcome to the second edition of Double Trouble, part of the Invasive Species Council’s work raising awareness about the dangers posed by weeds and pest animals to Australia’s natural environment under climate change.

Below you’ll find a list of the stories in our second edition, we hope you find them both interesting and useful. We’ve also introducing a new section called Dig it, which will focus on earlier science published about the issues surrounding invasive species and climate change.

You’ll know you’ve hit a “dig it” story because it will carry the Dig it logo!

Australian quarantine holes could unleash climate change super invaders
Some of Australia’s weeds and pest animals could turn into climate change “super invaders” if we continue to import new strains of already established invasive species.

One big danger in bringing new forms of established invasive species into the country is the risk of arming weeds and pest animals with the genetic variability needed to quickly adapt to changing conditions under climate change.

Australian conservation groups forge new invasive species alliance
Environment groups from across Australia have joined forces to launch the Stop Invasive Species Alliance, a coalition of 15 conservation groups calling on the Federal Government to usher in legal reforms equal to protecting the country’s environment from invasive species threats.

The alliance says invasive species are one of the top threats to global biodiversity and the number one cause of animal extinctions in Australia.

Fire risk and climate change, too hot to handle?
The increasing fire risk for southeast Australia under climate change has, not surprisingly, become a hot topic. But most of the popular discussion of the Victorian fires and climate change has ignored the issue of how weeds can greatly influence fire risk.

Recent research in Alaska by Philip Higuera and colleagues has demonstrated that vegetation can substantially alter the direct effects of climate change on fire regimes.

Buffel grass blamed for jump in US desert wildfires
An introduced pasture grass planted as livestock feed in arid and semi-arid Australia is one of several weedy invaders being blamed for an increase in unnatural wildfires across American deserts and national parks.

Size really does matter in chytrid fungus battle
The invasive frog-killing pathogen chytrid fungus (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis) kills some amphibians by compromising their growth rather than killing them directly, new research from Spain has found.

Mosquito-borne diseases not a major climate change threat in Australia
The University of Sydney’s Richard Russell has contested claims that climate change will greatly increase mosquito-borne diseases in Australia.

Warmer oceans could spark massive shift in marine biodiversity
Increasingly warmer oceans could kickstart a dramatic shift in global marine diversity by fast-tracking the dominance of our seas by invasive alien species and accelerating the loss of biodiversity.

Australia put on climate change sleeper weed alert
South eastern and south western Australia will be hardest hit by new weeds, according to climate change modelling undertaken by the CSIRO.

Bacterial infections behind corals’ yellow circle of death
Bacterial infections causing a devastating disease killing off corals in the Caribbean, and more recently the Pacific, have been linked to global warming.

Invasive species modelling on shaky ground
Climate change has stimulated demand for models of how changing weather patterns will affect the distribution of both native and exotic species.

Invading sea squirts get a leg up from warmer oceans
A study of sea squirts (ascidians) shows that increasing water temperatures could favour invasive forms by helping them outcompete native populations of these marine invertebrates.

Toxic marine invaders under the microscope
The role global shipping plays in spreading microorganisms (including a toxic algae that causes frequent closures of Tasmanian aquaculture farms) has come under the spotlight of researchers analysing ballast water flowing into the lower Chesapeake Bay in the US.

Climate and invasives driving changes in our oceans
Climate change and invasive species are major drivers of change in marine environments, implicated in the decline and even collapse of several ecosystems.

NZ’s alpine ecosystems vulnerable to weeds under warming
The plants and animals that make their home in the world’s alpine ecosystems are some of the most threatened by climate change.

Control invasive threats, says CSIRO
An important 2008 CSIRO report reviewing the impacts of climate change on Australia’s national reserve system highlighted interactions with invasive species.

Five paths to a successful alien invasion under climate change
In 2008 Jessica Hellman and colleagues identified five categories of interactions between climate change and invasive species, operating at different stages of the “invasion pathway”.