Naturalized alien floras still carry the legacy of European colonialism

Lenzner, Bernd; Latombe, Guillaume; Schertler, Anna; Seebens, Hanno; Yang, Qiang; Winter, Marten; Weigelt, Patrick; Kleunen, Mark van; Pyšek, Petr; Pergl, Jan; Kreft, Holger; Dawson, Wayne; Dullinger, Stefan; Essl, Franz

doi:10.1038/s41559-022-01865-1

Cited by 47 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 63 publications

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“…By island group, most naturalized species have a native range that includes the Americas, likely reflecting the role of European colonialism in introducing many species to the region from other parts of the colonial empires as well as the importance of similar climates for the establishment of non-native plants (Lenzner et al 2022). Whilst the colonial history of Malesia is incredibly complex and heterogeneous both between and within island groups, involving the Dutch, British, Spanish, and Portuguese empires, some key factors were likely important for the establishment of taxa from the Americas, such as the establishment of botanical gardens (e.g.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The naturalized vascular flora of Malesia

et al. 2023

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Major regional gaps exist in the reporting and accessibility of naturalized plant species distribution data, especially within Southeast Asia. Here, we present the Malesian Naturalized Alien Flora database (MalNAF), the first standardized island-group level checklist of naturalized vascular plant species for the Malesian phytogeographical region. We used MalNAF to investigate the composition, origins, and habitat preferences of the naturalized flora. The naturalized vascular flora of Malesia consists of at least 1177 species. Richness is highest in the Philippines (539 spp.) and lowest in the Maluku Islands (87 spp.). But, the Lesser Sunda Islands had the highest naturalized species richness relative to native richness and Singapore has a higher naturalized plant species richness than would be expected given its size. When comparing the data for Malesia with a global dataset, we found that naturalized richness increased with area for islands but not for continental regions. Across the archipelago, 31 species are widespread, occurring in every island group, but the majority have a limited distribution of 2.4 ± 2.3 (mean ± SD) island groups per naturalized species. The naturalized plant species are representatives of 150 families, twenty of which are newly introduced to the region. Families richest in naturalized plant species in Malesia were Fabaceae (= Leguminosae) (160 spp.), Poaceae (= Gramineae) (138 spp.), and Asteraceae (= Compositae) (96 spp.). Most of these have a native range that includes tropical Asia, closely followed by those from Southern America (inclusive of the Caribbean, Central and South America), although at the island-group level, most have a higher proportion with a Southern American native range. Most naturalized species occur in anthropogenic habitats, but many are present in “natural” habitats with fewer species, such as Leucaena leucocephala, reported from specialized habitats like drylands. MalNAF provides a baseline for future studies of naturalized plant species distributions in the region.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The naturalized vascular flora of Malesia

et al. 2023

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“…This colonization promoted both deliberate and accidental introductions of European plants 55 . Introductions of exotic plants by colonial powers accelerated in the 19 th and early 20 th centuries and have left a lasting legacy on the global flora 19 . This is noteworthy, because non-native plant diversity may be a stronger driver of insect invasions than native plant diversity 18 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Diversity of both native and non-native host plants appears to be a strong driver of insect invasions 18 . The role of non-native plants in facilitating the establishment of insects is particularly noteworthy given that European colonization promoted the worldwide establishment of European plants and increased the similarity of floral composition between empires and their colonies 19 . The invader quality hypothesis: differences in the biological traits of insects native to some regions may make them better at invading or competing than those native to other regions 7,8 . For example, life history traits such as asexual reproduction (e.g., parthenogenesis) and sib-mating are likely to reduce mate-finding failure in incipient populations, strong dispersal abilities may help individuals find suitable host plants, and species that are effective at colonizing disturbed habitats may be particularly effective invaders 11 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Drivers of asymmetrical insect invasions between three world regions

Isitt

Liebhold

Turner

et al. 2023

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The geographical exchange of non-native insects can be highly asymmetrical, with some world regions 'exporting' or 'importing' more species than others. Several hypotheses have been proposed to explain such asymmetries, including differences in propagule pressure, environmental features in recipient regions, or biological traits of invaders. We tested aspects of these hypotheses in the context of the exchange of non-native insects between North America, Europe, and Australasia. Europe was the dominant exporter of non-native insect species between the three regions, with most of this asymmetry arising prior to 1950. The European dominance could not be explained by differences in import value, source species pool sizes, or native plant richness in the recipient regions. We identified that the introduction of non-native plants, driven in part by European colonization, best explains the asymmetrical exchange of non-native insects between our focal regions.

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“…It may be informative for the management of invasions, therefore, to investigate whether the assembly processes of alien species are influenced by the relatively short time scale of introduction in new ranges, and their close association with anthropogenic factors (e.g., Lenzner et al, 2022). We would expect a close association between anthropogenic factors (such as the presence of roads which are correlated with human activity), introduction history and alien plant distribution.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Drivers of compositional turnover of narrow-ranged versus widespread naturalised woody plants in South Africa

et al. 2023

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IntroductionAlien trees and shrubs have become increasingly common invaders globally and have caused major negative impacts to ecosystems and society. Non-native woody plant species make up the majority of legislated invasive alien taxa in South Africa and contribute substantially to recorded negative impacts. It is of management interest to elucidate the macroecological processes that mediate the assembly of alien taxa, as this is expected to be associated with anthropogenic factors (e.g., human activity, introduction events, pathways of propagule dispersal mediated by humans) and bioclimatic factors (such as diurnal temperature range and precipitation gradients). These analyses require large species-occurrence datasets with comprehensive sampling across broad environmental conditions. Efforts of citizen scientists produce large numbers of occurrence records in a consistent manner which may be utilised for scientific investigations.MethodsResearch Grade occurrence data on naturalised plants of South Africa were extracted from the citizen scientist platform iNaturalist. Sampling bias was mitigated using statistical modelling of background points estimated from a Target Group of species which identifies well sampled communities. The drivers of assembly for alien plants at different range sizes were identified using multi-site generalised dissimilarity modelling (MS-GDM) of zeta diversity. The predicted compositional similarity between all cells was computed based on the subset of identified well sampled communities and using generalised dissimilarity modelling (GDM). From this, alien bioregions were identified using a k-means cluster analysis.Results and DiscussionBioclimatic factors significantly influenced community turnover in inland areas with large diurnal temperature ranges, and in areas with high precipitation. Communities separated by large geographical distances had significantly different compositions, indicating little contribution of long-range propagule movement by humans, and the presence of localised introduction hubs within the country which harbour unique species compositions. Analyses also showed a significant contribution of road density to turnover, which may be moderated by the habitat service provided by road verges. The same is true for natural dispersal via rivers in arid areas. The distribution of naturalised tree and shrub species is geographically clustered and forms six alien bioregions that are distinct from the South African biomes defined by native species distributionanalysis.

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Naturalized alien floras still carry the legacy of European colonialism

Cited by 47 publications

References 63 publications

The naturalized vascular flora of Malesia

The naturalized vascular flora of Malesia

Drivers of asymmetrical insect invasions between three world regions

Drivers of compositional turnover of narrow-ranged versus widespread naturalised woody plants in South Africa

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