Invasion of alien Acacia dealbata on Spanish Quercus robur forests: Impact on soils and vegetation

González‐Muñoz, Noelia; Costa-Tenorio, M.; Espigares, Tíscar

doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2011.12.026

Cited by 83 publications

(63 citation statements)

References 40 publications

(50 reference statements)

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“…5 species less). This result is in line with other studies showing reduction of species richness in forest ecosystems invaded by non-native trees and shrubs (González-Muñoz et al, 2012;Lorenzo et al, 2012). In terms of functional groups, this decrease was especially strong for the herbaceous plants, both geophytes and hemicryptophytes.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Impact of pine invasion on the taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity of a relict Mediterranean forest ecosystem

Selvi

Carrari

Coppi

2016

Forest Ecology and Management

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a b s t r a c tInvasion by non-native tree species is a major driver of reduction and fragmentation of forest ecosystems, also altering biodiversity components. However, the effects of this process on the phylogenetic structure and diversity of Mediterranean woodlands are still unknown. Accordingly, we used cork oak (Quercus suber) stands invaded by self-sowing populations of maritime pine locally introduced ca. 70 years ago as a model system to assess the impact on the taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity of the native seed plant community. We performed vegetation sampling of the two forest types in sites of central Italy with similar conditions. Taxonomic diversity was negatively affected by the pine at three levels (gamma, alpha, beta). Indicator species were significantly less numerous than in cork oak stands, and did not include two growth-forms such as herbs and vines. Phylogenetic diversity metrics were inferred from an evolutionary tree of seed plants based on a ITS-5.8S nuclear DNA dataset including original sequences from local plant material. Phylogenetic diversity (PD) was positively related to species and genus richness, showing a marked decrease in the pine stands. Seven major clades (orders) of angiosperm dicots were only represented in the cork oak community. Both the NRI and NTI indices showed a significant reduction of phylogenetic evenness in the pine forest. Here, the proportional increase of related taxa with acid-tolerance specialization suggests that soil acidification is a major driver for a ''habitat filtering" effect causing the exclusion of several understorey species and genera of cork oak forests. Progressive thinning of the pine stands is advocated to avoid further acidification and promote the re-conversion to oak woodlands by natural regeneration. This will ultimately favor the recovery of the associated plant diversity and the restoration of a vanishing forest ecosystem of the ancient Mediterranean landscape.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Impact of pine invasion on the taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity of a relict Mediterranean forest ecosystem

Selvi

Carrari

Coppi

2016

Forest Ecology and Management

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“…Particularly Acacia-stands showed low species numbers confirming results by other authors and underlining the significance of woody alien species for native biodiversity (Fuentes-Ramírez et al 2010;González-Muñoz et al 2012). Australian Acacia species belong to the top invaders and have already altered community composition and ecosystem services in different regions of the world (Gaertner et al 2009;Le Maitre et al 2011).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 79%

Struggling to maintain native plant diversity in a peri-urban reserve surrounded by a highly anthropogenic matrix

Heinrichs

Pauchard

2015

Biodivers Conserv

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High human density and land use intensity often coincide with biodiversity hotspots making peri-urban reserves a keystone for conserving natural remnants in a highly anthropogenic matrix. Particularly, intense propagule pressure by alien plant species can pose a threat to native biodiversity. However, little is known about the factors that determine invasibility and the role of roads and other human disturbances for such small protected areas. Within a peri-urban reserve close to the city of Concepción, south-central Chile, we investigated the influence of different site and landscape characteristics on the richness of native and alien plant species across different habitat (ruderal, road and forest sites) and forest types (native and alien dominated forests). Compared to other protected areas, alien species were frequently found in this reserve indicating the importance of urban areas as source for alien species. Aliens concentrate around disturbed ruderal and road sites, facilitating their spread into the reserve. Natural forest areas are less invaded until now. Within forests alien plant species richness was, however, positively associated to the proximity to disturbed landscapes. Forests dominated by alien tree species within the reserve are not the source for alien species within natural forests, but they negatively affect native species richness by replacing adequate seed sources. In order to prevent a further spread of alien species into peri-urban reserves, large scale anthropogenic disturbances should be minimized, already invaded sites must be monitored and buffer-zones protecting reserves from surrounding land use activities should be established. Communicated by David Hawksworth. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (

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“…Invasive plant species in Mediterranean regions frequently negatively affect the cover of understory vegetation [141] and/or change species compositions [142,143], usually reducing species diversity [142,144]. A literature review by Erskine-Ogden et al [145] found that Mediterranean invasive woody species could increase their competitive advantage over native species under N deposition by their larger mass and leaf area and their early height advantage.…”

Section: Biogeochemical and Ecosystem Responsesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impacts of Global Change on Mediterranean Forests and Their Services

Peñuelas

Sardans

Filella

et al. 2017

Forests

122

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The increase in aridity, mainly by decreases in precipitation but also by higher temperatures, is likely the main threat to the diversity and survival of Mediterranean forests. Changes in land use, including the abandonment of extensive crop activities, mainly in mountains and remote areas, and the increases in human settlements and demand for more resources with the resulting fragmentation of the landscape, hinder the establishment of appropriate management tools to protect Mediterranean forests and their provision of services and biodiversity. Experiments and observations indicate that if changes in climate, land use and other components of global change, such as pollution and overexploitation of resources, continue, the resilience of many forests will likely be exceeded, altering their structure and function and changing, mostly decreasing, their capacity to continue to provide their current services. A consistent assessment of the impacts of the changes, however, remains elusive due to the difficulty of obtaining simultaneous and complete data for all scales of the impacts in the same forests, areas and regions. We review the impacts of climate change and other components of global change and their interactions on the terrestrial forests of Mediterranean regions, with special attention to their impacts on ecosystem services. Management tools for counteracting the negative effects of global change on Mediterranean ecosystem- services are finally discussed.

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Invasion of alien Acacia dealbata on Spanish Quercus robur forests: Impact on soils and vegetation

Cited by 83 publications

References 40 publications

Impact of pine invasion on the taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity of a relict Mediterranean forest ecosystem

Impact of pine invasion on the taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity of a relict Mediterranean forest ecosystem

Struggling to maintain native plant diversity in a peri-urban reserve surrounded by a highly anthropogenic matrix

Impacts of Global Change on Mediterranean Forests and Their Services

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