Invasive alien plants have invaded various habitats, posing a threat to biodiversity. Several hypotheses have been proposed to explain the mechanisms of invasion, but few studies have considered the characteristics of the invaded communities and the effects of human interference in the invasion. In this study, we compared the invasibility of three different habitats: abandoned land, eucalyptus plantations, and natural secondary forests. We explored the effects of species diversity, phylogenetic diversity, and disturbance factors on the invasibility of different habitats. The results showed that the invasibility of abandoned land was the highest and the invasibility of the natural secondary forest was the lowest. Phylogenetic indicators affected the invasibility of abandoned land and eucalyptus plantations, and disturbance factors affected the invasibility of all three habitats, while the characteristics of the invaded communities had a weak impact. Our research provided supporting evidence for Darwin’s naturalization hypothesis and his disturbance hypothesis but found no relationship between biotic resistance and invasibility. This study indicated that the differences among habitats should be considered when we prove Darwin’s naturalization hypothesis in nature reserves.

Invasive alien plants cause major losses to native biodiversity. Nature reserves are crucial in resisting invasion, but resistance varies by habitats. To explore the variations and factors that determine invasive alien plant dispersal patterns in different habitats, we investigated abandoned land, eucalyptus plantations, and natural secondary forests in Encheng National Nature Reserve, Guangxi. Our results showed a significant decrease in invasive alien plants with increasing distance from roads in secondary forest, while there was no significant trend in the two other habitats. No significant trends were observed in the distribution of invasive alien plants within the soil seed bank in the three habitats perpendicular to the road direction. Invasive alien plant composition varied with the distance from the road and was found to be similar both aboveground and in the soil seed bank. Factors influencing invasive species composition at different road edges differed by habitats, abandoned land was affected by average human flow, average traffic flow, and distance to the village, eucalyptus plantations by pH, average human flow, native herb richness of soil seed bank, and road width, and secondary forest by road width, road grade, and native herb richness and density. Our results indicated that the secondary forest resists plant invasion better than eucalyptus plantations and abandoned land, moreover, native herbs play important roles in resisting invasive species in both secondary forest and eucalyptus plantations. To target invasive alien plants in nature reserves, prioritize the abandoned land and plantation forests based on our findings.