High canopy cover of invasive Acer negundo L. affects ground vegetation taxonomic richness

Abstract

We assessed the link between canopy cover degree and ground vegetation taxonomic richness under alien ash-leaved maple (Acer negundo) and other (native or alien) tree species. We investigated urban and suburban forests in the large city of Yekaterinburg, Russia. Forests were evaluated on two spatial scales. Through an inter-habitat comparison we recorded canopy cover and plant taxonomic richness among 13 sample plots of 20 × 20 m where A. negundo dominated and 13 plots where other tree species dominated. In an intra-habitat comparison, we recorded canopy cover and ground vegetation taxonomic richness among 800 sample plots measuring 1 m2 in the extended urbanised forest, which featured abundant alien (308 plots) and native trees (492 plots). We observed decreased taxonomic richness among vascular ground plant species by 40% (inter-habitat) and 20% (intra-habitat) in areas dominated by A. negundo compared to areas dominated by native tree and shrub species. An abundance of A. negundo was accompanied by increased canopy cover. We found a negative relationship between canopy cover and the number of understory herbaceous species. Thus, the interception of light and the restriction of its amount for other species is a main factor supporting the negative influence of A. negundo on native plant communities.

Anthropogenic life strategy of plants

“…This is also the case of some ornamental multi-petal varieties of roses (Rosa sp.). Many cultivars do not produce any reproductive cells and their survival fully depends on growers (Marchant et al, 1998 ;Robinson and Firoozabady, 1993 ;von-Arnold et al, 2002). Numerous species of the genus Musa sp.…”

“…Plant species that thrive in these conditions are highly flexible in terms of their environmental requirements, have a high reproduction potential, and high regenerative ability. Such species include for example, Acer negundo , Calamagrostis epigejos , and Robinia pseudoacacia (Puchałka et al, 2021; Těšitel et al, 2020; Veselkin et al, 2021).…”

Plant Species Richness and Invasional Meltdown in Different Parts of Acer negundo L. Secondary Range

“…However, there are rare exceptions when plant invasions increase plant species richness [6]. Decreased species richness in invaded communities is related to the increased competitive ability of invasive species [7][8][9][10] or their ability to transform environmental conditions [11][12][13][14][15][16], including allelopathy [17,18].…”

“…This hypothesis has already been tested in both regions, but using different experimental designs. Moreover, only the richness of herbaceous species was assessed in these works [15,38,39].…”

Kuraklık Stresi Altındaki İki Akçaağaç Türünün (Acer negundo ve Acer pseudoplatanus) Fidanlarının Gaz Değişim Parametrelerinin Karşılaştırılması

“…Within maple trees, Acer negundo (L.) (Ash-leaved maple) and Acer pseudoplatanus (Sycamore maple) are one of two species primarily seen in many urban landscaping in Turkey due to desired color and resistance to environmental stress such as heavy metal (Turkyilmaz et al, 2018) and drought stress. A. negundo is considered an invasive species in seminatural regions in Eurasia (Gusev et al, 2017;Veselkin et al, 2021). It is also a transformer species that significantly changes its ecosystem's conditions (Richardson et al, 2000).…”