Explaining invasiveness from the extent of native range: new insights from plant atlases and herbarium specimens

Abstract

Aim We tested the relationship between the extent of the native range and the success (number of occurrences) in the introduced range of European vascular plant species naturalized in the province of Québec (Canada). We hypothesized that the performance of models linking native range size and species invasiveness can be improved if residence time and climate tolerance are taken into account. Methods The extent of the native range (Europe, Asia) was estimated using plant atlases. The number of occurrences in the introduced range (Québec) was estimated using the number of herbarium specimens stored in herbaria. Herbarium specimens were also used to obtain residence time. Plant hardiness was used as an indicator of the suitability of a species to the climate of the introduced range. Multiple linear regression models, corrected to take into account phylogenetic biases, were used to calculate correlations between the extent of the native range and the number of occurrences in the introduced range. Results The larger the native distribution area in Eurasia, the greater the number of occurrences (herbarium specimens) in Québec. The shorter the residence time and the less hardy the plant, the fewer the number of occurrences. In all models tested, the phylogenetic structure explained a significant proportion of the variance, but its influence decreased as the number of species or area studied (Europe versus Eurasia) increased. Main conclusions The extent of the native range is a good explanatory variable for the invasion success of vascular plants, especially once other factors (residence time, climate tolerance, phylogeny) are taken into account. Thus, a model using these variables could be used by environmental managers to flag species warranting further investigation. With the emergence of online databases, gathering the required information is becoming easier and cheaper. As online databases continue to improve and new analytical tools are developed, this approach will become even more powerful.

Native range size and growth form in Cactaceae predict invasiveness and impact

“…The native range of C. hildmannianus is, however, about forty times that of E. grusonii. Several studies have argued that species with large native ranges possess a suite of traits that contribute to fitness and dispersal (Booth et al 2003), and have wide environmental tolerances which improves their ability to handle different conditions in new areas (Allen et al 2013, Lavoie et al 2013. We believe that this is especially true for the family Cactaceae, one of the families with the highest number of endangered species in the plant kingdom (Hernandez andBarcenas 1996, Goettsch et al 2015).…”

Using herbaria to study global environmental change

“…Previous studies have used them both to predict and to verify predictions of the climatic niche that plants can potentially occupy. For example, the size of the native range of an invasive species has been found to be highly correlated with its abundance in the new range, as documented for many highly invasive Eurasian species around Québec (Lavoie et al ., ). Herbaria also can enable estimation of a weediness index – or how much a plant associates with human‐caused disturbance – which often also overlaps with plant invasiveness (Robin Hart, ).…”

Naturalization of central European plants in North America: species traits, habitats, propagule pressure, residence time

“…Residence time, in this case, the time a species has been present in the wild (outside cultivation) in North America, is generally accepted as a crucial driver of invasion (e.g., Castro et al 2005, Pysˇek and Jarosˇı´k 2005, Williamson et al 2009, Gasso´et al 2010). However, this variable is rarely included in large-scale macroecological studies (but see, e.g., Wilson et al 2007, Lavoie et al 2013. This is so because, in addition to the widespread lack of good data on times of introduction, it is only possible to assign this variable to species introduced to a geographically defined area.…”