Feedbacks between natural climate solutions and plant invasions
- 1Center for Conservation and Restoration Ecology
- 2Princeton University
Abstract
Biological invasions and carbon sequestration guide many modern-day land management decisions. However, intersections between invasions and natural climate solutions (NCS)—actions to maintain or increase the land carbon sink—have not received adequate attention in either the invasion or climate mitigation literature. We therefore review how plant invasions affect NCS and vice versa, focusing on reductions in emissions and carbon removals associated with avoided habitat conversion, restoration, forest and cropland management, agroforestry, and optimal grazing. We find that plant invasions can interfere with rapid NCS implementation and reduce the durability of carbon storage in many systems, although there are cases in which invasive plants increase carbon storage, creating biodiversity-climate mitigation trade-offs. At the same time, studies find that several NCS increase community resistance/resilience to invasions, and do so in forests, in particular, which can suppress invasive species spread in these systems. These dynamics suggest a positive feedback loop between NCS and invasions, in which NCS facilitate invasion control, and successful invasion control, in turn, eases further NCS implementation. This feedback could accelerate gains in land-based carbon storage and generate co-benefits for biodiversity, provided that NCS projects receive resources for sustained invasive species management. We highlight areas in need of further research, including how financial mechanisms for climate action could be used to overcome invasion-induced implementation barriers.
Related
- Plant invasions are associated with lower community stability at multiple spatial scales
- Plant–Insect Interactions in Biological Invasions: From Classical Hypotheses to Multitrophic Networks and Biological Control
- Plant invasions in Natura 2000 habitats in Poland are driven primarily by macroclimatic factors
- Globally, plant‐soil feedbacks are weak predictors of plant abundance
- Plant–Soil Feedbacks May Underlie Competitive Dynamics Between Co‐Occurring Invasive Annual Grasses Bromus tectorum and Ventenata dubia
BibTeX
@article{beaury2026feedbacks,
title = {{Feedbacks between natural climate solutions and plant invasions}},
author = {Evelyn M Beaury and Jonathan M Levine},
journal = {Environmental Research Letters},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1088/1748-9326/aeb0b9},
url = {https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/aeb0b9},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Feedbacks between natural climate solutions and plant invasions
AU - Evelyn M Beaury
AU - Jonathan M Levine
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/30
JO - Environmental Research Letters
DO - 10.1088/1748-9326/aeb0b9
UR - https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/aeb0b9
AB - Biological invasions and carbon sequestration guide many modern-day land management decisions. However, intersections between invasions and natural climate solutions (NCS)—actions to maintain or increase the land carbon sink—have not received adequate attention in either the invasion or climate mitigation literature. We therefore review how plant invasions affect NCS and vice versa, focusing on reductions in emissions and carbon removals associated with avoided habitat conversion, restoration, forest and cropland management, agroforestry, and optimal grazing. We find that plant invasions can interfere with rapid NCS implementation and reduce the durability of carbon storage in many systems, although there are cases in which invasive plants increase carbon storage, creating biodiversity-climate mitigation trade-offs. At the same time, studies find that several NCS increase community resistance/resilience to invasions, and do so in forests, in particular, which can suppress invasive species spread in these systems. These dynamics suggest a positive feedback loop between NCS and invasions, in which NCS facilitate invasion control, and successful invasion control, in turn, eases further NCS implementation. This feedback could accelerate gains in land-based carbon storage and generate co-benefits for biodiversity, provided that NCS projects receive resources for sustained invasive species management. We highlight areas in need of further research, including how financial mechanisms for climate action could be used to overcome invasion-induced implementation barriers.
SN - 1748-9326
ER -