PubMed · 2026-05-22
Invasive plants and insects are beginning to colonize Earth's polar regions as climate warming lowers natural barriers, and they may fundamentally alter Arctic and Antarctic soils by changing how nutrients cycle — potentially accelerating further invasions in a self-reinforcing loop.
Polar ecosystems are especially vulnerable to invasion because of their low native diversity, simple food chains, and apparently vacant ecological niches that invaders can exploit without resistance.
Non-native arthropods and plants introduce novel microbiomes and fungal endophytes that accelerate organic matter decomposition and increase bioavailable nitrogen in nutrient-limited polar soils.
Climate warming and biological invasions may act synergistically — warming speeds decomposition while invaders add nutrients, together creating a feedback loop that favors establishment of additional non-native species.