The problem caused by invasive vines will only worsen in a warming climate, with higher CO2 concentrations. The large increase of carbon dioxide is, and will continue to be, a huge boon for plant life in some regions. While plants will be able to grow faster, and photosynthesize at an increased rate, the downside is that carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is indiscriminate of what plant species it helps grow. Invasive species are the ones who will likely be able to seize the opportunity most, and certain invasive plants such as vines have been proven to benefit most from more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Nitrogen, too, can cause some invasive plants to spread even faster.
Not only are some vines more responsive to higher carbon dioxide levels, but the traits which make the most successful invasive vines are also the traits most beneficial to their surviving climate change. Invasive plants, including vines, have faster growth rates than their native counterparts, longer growing seasons, resistance to drought and flooding, the ability to grow in a variety of soil conditions and shade levels, rapid evolution from short generation times, and their seeds are extremely survivable. These traits all mean that dominant invasive plants thrive on ecological disturbance.
The invasives’ survivability means they are always first to the scene, no matter the catastrophe. When forests are ravaged by storms, floods, and droughts, invasive plants rush in to fill the gaps created by dead or dying trees. They smother any native seedlings that might have taken the opportunity to sprout their first leaves, and instead, create a monoculture, and further diminishing native recovery of both plants and animals in an ecosystem.
As temperatures increase, native plants will have to migrate northward, to follow their ideal temperature range. However, they are less suited to do this than their invasive counterparts, who have faster reproduction cycles and greater propagation ability. Invasive plants, able to survive in a wider range of temperatures, will be able to keep surviving where they are, and also move to new habitats, previously unsuitable for their growth, is hot enough for their expansion. In all, it’s even more bad news for native plants.