Climate change amplifies biological invasions in freshwater ecosystems: Altered pathways, enhanced establishment, and adaptive management

Biological invasions represent a major global driver of biodiversity loss, second only to habitat destruction. The proliferation of invasive species is accelerating due to human-assisted globalization and climate change. Freshwater ecosystems are disproportionately impacted, suffering significant biodiversity declines. This narrative review synthesizes current knowledge from the peer-reviewed literature on how climate change influenced biological invasions in freshwater systems. We discuss the impacts of climate change across the invasion continuum, including entry pathways, establishment, spread, and resultant ecological and socioeconomic damages, and developed proactive, sustainable long-term management strategies. First, we illustrate how climate change facilitates species spread into novel habitats by altering introduction pathways and expanding potential distribution ranges. Second, we explore how climate shifts enhance establishment success by favoring invasive species' competitive traits and their tolerances to harsh environments, while modifying environmental conditions to their advantage, thereby increasing both species diversity and geographic scope of invasions. Third, we evaluate the amplified ecological and economic damages resulting from synergistic interactions between climate change and invasive species, heightening ecosystem vulnerability, increasing the risk of new invasions, and leading to global biotic homogenization. Finally, we develop and propose a sequential, long-term management framework prioritizing prevention, early detection and rapid response, and adaptive control strategies tailored to changing climatic conditions. This review provides a comprehensive understanding of climate-mediated biological invasions in freshwater ecosystems and outlines a sustainable, adaptive management approach critical for mitigating escalating invasion risks under future climate scenarios.