Impacts of weather events on the effectiveness of climate adaptation interventions for threatened species

Climate change is driving increasingly frequent and severe weather events that can undermine the effectiveness of conservation interventions for threatened species, yet the extent and mechanisms of such impacts remain poorly understood. We assessed both peer-reviewed and gray literature to determine how climate adaptation interventions have been affected by weather events across different land types, Australian bioregions, taxonomic groups, and intervention categories. Specifically, we evaluated 593 climate adaptation interventions for 145 threatened species in Australia. We found 36% of the interventions experienced impacts from weather events, with only 9% of these reporting positive outcomes, which were significantly associated with above-average rainfall. Critically, our dataset was dominated by plant-focused translocations, with drought and wildfire representing the primary stressors. Most taxonomic groups, despite being targeted by conservation interventions, experienced population declines and habitat loss following weather events. Inadequate mitigation of cumulative threats, such as grazing pressure and weed invasion, frequently exacerbated negative impacts and reduced the resilience of ecosystems to withstand and recover from weather impacts. Our findings suggested that although extreme weather risks have been recognized, they are not yet being systematically incorporated into the design and implementation of climate adaptation interventions in Australia. We recommend adopting adaptive and integrated management approaches to enhance climate adaptation success for threatened species, particularly by enabling the systematic management of multiple threats and facilitating flexible, evidence-informed interventions in response to changing environmental conditions. Future research should prioritize adopting more rigorous, proactive experimental designs that bridge the gap between recognizing extreme weather risks and implementing robust mitigation strategies. Expanding the empirical basis for climate adaptation is also needed for less-represented taxa such as reptiles, invertebrates, and freshwater fish, as well as in regions with limited data such as central and northern Australia where increased cyclone and flooding intensities are already occurring.