Plant invasion across space and time: factors affecting nonindigenous species success during four stages of invasion

Theoharides, Kathleen A.; Dukes, Jeffrey S.

doi:10.1111/j.1469-8137.2007.02207.x

Cited by 853 publications

(742 citation statements)

References 177 publications

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“…The challenge of biotic invasions to ecosystems and natural resource managers will probably grow as propagule pressure accelerates with globalization and invasibility increases with climate and human land-use change (Walther et al 2002;Theoharides & Dukes 2007;Pauchard et al 2009). Traditional options for strategic responses (prevention, eradication, mitigation) are costly and wrought with technical challenges.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Subcontinental impacts of an invasive tree disease on forest structure and dynamics

et al. 2011

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Summary1. Introduced pests and pathogens are a major source of disturbance to ecosystems world-wide. The famous examples have produced dramatic reductions in host abundance, including virtual extirpation, but most introductions have more subtle impacts that are hard to quantify but are potentially at least as important due to the pathogens' effects on host reproduction, competitive ability and stress tolerance. A general outcome could be reduced host abundance with concomitant increases in the abundance of competitors. 2. Beech bark disease (BBD) is a widespread, fatal affliction of American beech (Fagus grandifolia), currently present in c. 50% of beech's distribution in eastern North America. Despite high adult mortality, beech remains a dominant component of the forest community. 3. Employing spatially extensive data from the national Forest Inventory and Analysis program of the United States Forest Service, we show that forests have changed dramatically in the presence of BBD. Within the 2.3 million km 2 range of beech, size-specific mortality was 65% higher in the longest-infected regions, and large beech ( >90 cm diameter at breast height) have declined from c. 79 individuals km )2 to being virtually absent. Small stem beech density was dramatically higher ( >350%) such that infested forests contain a roughly equivalent cross-sectional (basal) area of beech as before BBD. 4. There was no evidence for compensation by sugar maple or other co-occurring tree species via increased recruitment or adult survivorship at the landscape scale. Overall, community composition remained roughly unchanged as a result of BBD. 5. Surprisingly, trajectory of stand dynamics (shifts in stem density and mean tree size reflecting normal stand maturation (self-thinning) or retrogression (more abundant, smaller trees over time)) did not differ between affected and unaffected regions. Variance in stand dynamics was greater in afflicted forests, however, indicating that predictability of forest structure has been diminished by BBD. 6. Synthesis. Forests of eastern North America have shifted to increased density and dramatically smaller stature -without notable change in tree species composition -following the invasion of a novel forest disease. Our results reinforce the conclusion that introduced diseases alter fundamental properties of ecosystems, but indicate that the spectrum of potential effects is broader than generally appreciated.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Subcontinental impacts of an invasive tree disease on forest structure and dynamics

et al. 2011

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“…Comparing the relative position of a forest to the source of an invasive woody species, a remnant urban forest is far more vulnerable to being invaded by alien shrubs and trees than rural forests since cities surround remnant urban forests while rural forests surround cities. The vulnerability to invasion is increased over long time periods as additional introductions of the particular invasive woody species as well as other invasive trees and shrubs continue to occur [8].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Arboricultural Introductions and Long-Term Changes for Invasive Woody Plants in Remnant Urban Forests

Loeb

2012

Forests

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“…However, increasing evidence shows that evolutionary or ecological processes can change the behaviour of invader species or modulate their effects (Strayer et al 2006). The invasion process itself has been found to approximately follow a sequence of stages, irrespective of the taxonomic identity of the invader (Theoharides and Dukes 2007). Invasive species can also drive both natural selection and evolutionary response in the recipient communities (Callaway et al 2005).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The response of plant community diversity to alien invasion: evidence from a sand dune time series

2014

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This study examines the process of invasion of coastal dunes in north-eastern Italy along a 60-year time series considering alien attributes (origin, residence time, invasive status, and growth form strategy) and habitat properties (species richness, diversity and evenness, proportion of aliens, and proportion of focal species). Vegetation changes through time were investigated in four sandy coastal habitats, using a fine-scale diachronic approach that compared vegetation data collected by use of the same procedure, in four time periods, from the 1950s to 2011. Our analysis revealed an overall significant decline of species richness over the last six decades. Further, both the average number of species per plot and the mean focal species proportion were proved to be negatively affected by the increasing proportion of alien species at plot level. The severity of the impact, however, was found to be determined by a combination of species attributes, habitat properties, and human disturbance suggesting that alien species should be referred to as ''passengers'' and not as ''drivers'' of ecosystem change. Passenger alien species are those which take advantage of disturbances or other changes to which they are adapted but that lead to a decline in native biodiversity. Their spread is facilitated by widespread anthropogenic environmental alterations, which create new, suitable habitats, and ensure human-assisted dispersal, reducing the distinctiveness of plant communities and inducing a process of biotic homogenization.

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Plant invasion across space and time: factors affecting nonindigenous species success during four stages of invasion

Abstract: Contents Summary256I.257II.260III.268IV.268269269

Cited by 853 publications

References 177 publications

Subcontinental impacts of an invasive tree disease on forest structure and dynamics

Subcontinental impacts of an invasive tree disease on forest structure and dynamics

Arboricultural Introductions and Long-Term Changes for Invasive Woody Plants in Remnant Urban Forests

The response of plant community diversity to alien invasion: evidence from a sand dune time series

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