Do priority effects benefit invasive plants more than native plants? An experiment with six grassland species

Dickson, Timothy L.; Hopwood, Jennifer; Wilsey, Brian J.

doi:10.1007/s10530-012-0257-2

Cited by 112 publications

(114 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…Thus, past management may not be the sole factor promoting dominance of exotics, and understanding human-vs. plant-mediated dynamics at broad scales will be important. Dickson et al (2012) and Martin and Wilsey (2012) experimentally varied the arrival order of native and exotic species and found that exoticdominated communities developed when exotic species establish before natives. Thus, we hypothesize that, regardless of whether there were purposeful or haphazard introductions, the lower connectivity and dispersal rates among sites can explain why exotics have not spread across the biome.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Differences in beta diversity between exotic and native grasslands vary with scale along a latitudinal gradient

Martin

Wilsey

2015

Ecology

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Biodiversity can be partitioned into alpha, beta, and gamma components, and beta diversity is not as clearly understood. Biotic homogenization predicts that exotic species should lower beta diversity at global and continental scales, but it is still unclear how exotic species impact beta diversity at smaller scales. Exotic species could theoretically increase or decrease beta diversity relative to natives depending on many factors, including abiotic conditions, community assembly history, management, dispersal rates of species, and connectivity among patches. We sampled plant species abundances in 42 novel, exotic-and native-dominated (remnant) grasslands across a latitudinal gradient in the tallgrass prairie region, and tested whether exotic and native grasslands differed in beta diversity at three scales: across sites within the entire biome, across sites within regions, and across locations within sites. Exotic-dominated grasslands differed from native-dominated grasslands in beta diversity at all scales, but the direction of the difference changed from positive to negative as scales went from large to small. Contrary to expectations, exotic-dominated grasslands had higher beta diversity than native-dominated grasslands at the largest scale considered. This occurred because the identity of dominant exotic species varied across the latitudinal gradient, with many exotic grassland pairs exhibiting zero similarity, whereas native-dominated grasslands differed more gradually with distance. Beta diversity among sites within a region was variable, with exotic-dominated grasslands having 29% higher beta diversity than native grasslands in the south and 33% lower beta diversity in the north. Within sites, beta diversity was 26% lower in exotic-dominated than native grasslands. Our results provide evidence that different regional identities and abundances of exotics, and lack of connectivity in fragmented landscapes can alter beta diversity in unexpected ways across spatial scales. Abstract. Biodiversity can be partitioned into alpha, beta, and gamma components, and beta diversity is not as clearly understood. Biotic homogenization predicts that exotic species should lower beta diversity at global and continental scales, but it is still unclear how exotic species impact beta diversity at smaller scales. Exotic species could theoretically increase or decrease beta diversity relative to natives depending on many factors, including abiotic conditions, community assembly history, management, dispersal rates of species, and connectivity among patches. We sampled plant species abundances in 42 novel, exotic-and native-dominated (remnant) grasslands across a latitudinal gradient in the tallgrass prairie region, and tested whether exotic and native grasslands differed in beta diversity at three scales: across sites within the entire biome, across sites within regions, and across locations within sites. Exotic-dominated grasslands differed from native-dominated grasslands in beta diversity at all scales, but the direc...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Differences in beta diversity between exotic and native grasslands vary with scale along a latitudinal gradient

Martin

Wilsey

2015

Ecology

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“…In grassland systems, exotic species dominance and invasion success can in part be attributed to inhibitory priority effects where exotics show large priority effects over establishing native grassland species, reducing native plant growth and diversity (Grman and Suding 2010;Martin and Wilsey 2012;Dickson et al 2012;Ulrich and Perkins 2014;Wilsey et al 2015;Stuble and Souza 2016). When native grassland species arrive first they can exclude exotic invaders (Abraham et.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Exotic grassland species have higher seedling growth rates, earlier emergence dates and higher germination rates than native counterparts (Wainwright and Cleland 2013;Wilsey et al 2015). When exotic perennial grassland species arrive before natives during assembly it can lead to lower species diversity and near monocultures (Dickson et al 2012;Wilsey et al 2015). Exotic species can significantly alter later community composition, so knowing when priority effects are the strongest can help us pinpoint the conditions when exotic species pose the largest threats.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Priority effects are affected by precipitation variability and are stronger in exotic than native grassland species

Goodale

Wilsey

2018

Plant Ecol

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Exotic perennial grassland species often green up earlier than their native counterparts, allowing them to gain an advantage by dominating resources early (priority effects). Precipitation variability is expected to increase with climate change, and may alter the strength of priority effects. We hypothesized that exotics will have stronger priority effects than natives, precipitation variability will impact the strength of priority effects, and precipitation variability will impact the priority effects of native species more than those of exotics. We seeded one of five native or five exotic grassland species from the Central U.S. spanning multiple functional groups 28 days prior to a native seed mix. Priority effect strength was determined by how much establishment and diversity was reduced in the mix compared to controls (no species seeded before mix). We crossed these priority effect treatments with three water variability treatments, one low variability, and two high variability with alternate timing. Exotic species had stronger priority effects than natives, and decreased diversity and establishment from the seed mix. High variability precipitation when the growing season began dry significantly increased priority effects compared to low variability and high variability beginning wet. We found no significant evidence for a more pronounced impact of precipitation on native species, but trends suggest future studies may reveal significant interactions. Although future research in the field over multiple growing seasons is needed, our results suggest priority effects of exotics in Central U.S. grasslands are independent of precipitation timing and therefore likely to persist under changing climates.

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“…Specifically, research on the establishment of introduced species has provided insight into establishment of species in novel ecosystems. From these studies we know that the differential timing of germination between established and novel plant species can be a primary factor determining the success of the invading species and the final composition of the community (Dickson et al, 2012). Research that was developed under the invasive species framework should be applied to future studies investigating the novel communities that are being created as a consequence of climate change.…”

Section: 1038/nature14952mentioning

confidence: 99%

Commentary: Novel competitors shape species' responses to climate change

Fadrique

Feeley

2016

Front. Ecol. Evol.

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Do priority effects benefit invasive plants more than native plants? An experiment with six grassland species

Cited by 112 publications

References 40 publications

Differences in beta diversity between exotic and native grasslands vary with scale along a latitudinal gradient

Differences in beta diversity between exotic and native grasslands vary with scale along a latitudinal gradient

Priority effects are affected by precipitation variability and are stronger in exotic than native grassland species

Commentary: Novel competitors shape species' responses to climate change

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