Pacific Regional Invasive Species and Climate Change (Pacific RISCC) Management Network
Building a Community of Practice
Ecosystems in the Pacific Islands are being transformed by two large-scale, interacting threats: invasive species and climate change. We have joined with entities across the Pacific to explore perspectives, needs, and research related to the confluence of invasive species management and climate adaptation in our region.
Pacific RISCC Partners:
- American Samoa Community College
- Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) Division of Fish and Wildlife, Department of Lands & Natural Resources
- Coordinating Group on Alien Pest Species (CGAPS)
- Hawaiʻi Department of Land and Natural Resources – Division of Forestry and Wildlife
- Hawaiʻi Invasive Species Council
- Pacific Islands Climate Adaptation Science Center (PI-CASC)
- Pacific Research on Island Solutions for Adaptation (Pacific RISA)
- Palau Community College
- University of Guam
- University of Hawaiʻi
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS)
- U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)
To learn more about the unique climate change and invasive species challenges our partners face across the Hawai’i and U.S.-Affiliated Pacific Islands region, please check out our 6 short videos premiered at the 2021 IUCN World Conservation Congress in Marseilles, France. And join our growing community of practice by subscribing to our listserv.
Our Objectives
- Identify priority lines of research, informed by managers, to examine the interactions between invasive species and climate change
- Develop management strategies and actions to these combined threats while strengthening existing, successful approaches
- Create a space for engagement and communication of lessons learned
- Facilitate a network of resource managers, researchers, and interested community members and organizations
- Promote relevant research and develop effective information-sharing strategies
Check out our new 2025 survey!
This report summarizes the findings from a 2025 survey of natural resource managers in Hawaiʻi and the U.S.–Affiliated Pacific Islands (USAPI). The survey was designed to assess managers’ current level of concern about the influence of climate change on invasive species management, compare their access to and understanding of available climate information for the region, and identify key barriers to incorporating climate-informed approaches into management practices.
The 2025 questionnaire was adapted from the Pacific RISCC’s 2020 baseline survey of Hawaiʻi-based managers and closely aligned with survey instruments used by other regional RISCC teams as described in Evans et al. (2025). The study was approved by Arizona State University’s Institutional Review Board (STUDY00022121), and the survey was distributed online in early 2025 through the Pacific RISCC listserv and partner networks.
The Pacific RISCC is using the 2025 survey results to refine priorities and identify targeted research, knowledge-sharing, and co-production opportunities that address the evolving and intersecting challenges of invasive species and climate change. Insights from this assessment will help support the development and implementation of climate-adaptive, island-appropriate prevention, early detection and rapid response (EDRR), and long-term control strategies across Hawaiʻi and the USAPI.
Recommended citation: Brewington L., Parsons E., Martin C., Daehler C. 2025. Managing Invasive Species in a Changing Pacific: Survey of Natural Resource Managers in Hawaiʻi and the U.S.–Affiliated Pacific Islands. Honolulu: Pacific Regional Invasive Species and Climate Change Management Network. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17782605.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Want to stay up to date with Pacific RISCC’s upcoming events and activities? Join the Pacific RISCC Listserv where we share upcoming webinars, research summaries, workshops, jobs, and more. To join add your info here (link).
Check out our latest Pacific RISCC Publication!
Pacific Island Perspectives on Invasive Species and Climate Change
Ecosystem health and sustainability worldwide are threatened by the independent and interacting impacts of invasive species and climate change. In this book chapter, we first consider the state of knowledge and the compounding impacts of these two threats with an emphasis on sustainability in the Pacific Region. We then describe the evolution of the Pacific RISCC that represents the US Territories of Guam and American Sāmoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), the Republic of Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Republic of the Marshall Islands (collectively referred to as the US-Affiliated Pacific Islands, USAPI), and the U.S. State of Hawaiʻi. Finally, we present two regional case studies as examples of how Pacific RISCC research is promoting Pacific Island resilience and sustainable outcomes through climate-literate resource management.
Recommended citation: Brewington L., Eichelberger B., Read N., Parsons E., Kerkering H., Martin C., Miles W., Burgett J., Idechong J., 2023. Pacific Island Perspectives on Invasive Species and Climate Change, In: Walsh S.J., Mena C.F., Stewart J.R., and Muñoz Pérez J.P. (Eds.) Social and Ecological Interactions in the Galapagos Islands, Island Ecosystems: Challenges to Sustainability (pp. 59-78), New York: Springer.
Workshop Report
Assessing Jurisdictional Capacity for Invasive Species Response in a Changing Climate
This workshop report details the proceedings and outcomes of a two-hour workshop at the 2024 North American Invasive Species Management Association’s annual conference. During this workshop, invasive species managers, practitioners, and policy- and decision-makers identified and prioritized key challenges and solutions to help jurisdictions take proactive, effective action against invasive species in a changing climate. Through worksheets, guided discussions, and ranking exercises, participants generated 130 distinct solutions to increase jurisdictional capacity. We also identified several actionable ideas to support jurisdictional capacity, including boundary-spanning activities to facilitate knowledge-sharing. States, territories, and provinces can use these results to assess and strengthen their ability to address invasive species in a changing climate.
Recommended citation: Colberg, E., Parsons, E.W., Martin, C., Christiaens, B., and Greenwood, L. Assessing Jurisdictional Capacity for Invasive Species Response in a Changing Climate. RISCC Management Network Workshop Report, published online, 10/28/25.
Check out our Research Summaries for Practitioners!
Pacific RISCC Research Summaries
Research publications often contain useful information that resource managers can use to improve management practices in the face of climate change, yet they can be inaccessible due to lack of access to the article itself, or lack of time to read through and interpret the information.
In the Pacific RISCC Research Summary series, we highlight interesting and relevant research at the nexus of climate change and invasive species for managers in the Pacific region. We highlight a publication, report, tool, or product that may be useful to managers, and we include a short summary, management implications, and take home points.
Above, Right: A figure in the March 2024 research summary for Shiels et al. 2022: How do invasive rodents respond to strong hurricanes on islands? One take home point from this article: Consider implementing invasive rodent control after cyclones (hurricanes/typhoons) in areas where there are major shifts in forest canopy structure as those areas may attract different invasive rodent species or increase abundance.
Action Items:
(A) Consolidate existing information and products at the invasives/climate nexus into one centralized/accessible location. Compile relevant peer-reviewed articles, technical reports, tools, and other resources on this website.
(B) Continue the webinar series and engage in other conferences/workshops as available. Potential topics include, but are not limited to: better understanding of uncertainty and information on potential range shifting species, native community resilience, effects and nature of extreme events, new introduction pathways, and impacts of seasonal changes.
(C) Create the needed organizational framework to facilitate discussions and set priorities at the invasives/climate nexus and move this effort forward in Hawaiʻi and the USAPI. This includes finalizing our core team and science advisory board.
(D) Strategically plan next steps, identifying/prioritizing needs/gaps, and determining where the most value can be added.
(E) Collaboratively-developed research agendas for the Pacific Islands region, which has different native biotas, divergent climate change projections, and a range of invasive species threats.
(F) Research summaries for managers to use in developing adaptive management programs.