Which features at home make a plant prone to become invasive?

Abstract

Determining the factors that pre-adapt plant species to successfully establish and spread outside of their native ranges constitutes a powerful approach with great potential for management. While this source-area approach accounts for the bias associated with species’ regions of origin, it has been only implemented in pools of species known to be established elsewhere. We argue that, in regions with well-known introduction histories, such as the Mediterranean Biome, the consideration of co-dominant non-introduced species as a control group allows a better understanding of the invasion process. For this purpose, we used occurrence data from GBIF and trait data from previous studies to find predictors of establishment and invasion. We compare the frequency, climatic niche and functional traits of 149 co-dominant plant species in their native region in southern Spain, considering whether they have colonised other Mediterranean-climate regions or not and their level of invasion. We found that large native ranges and diverse climatic niches were the best predictors of species establishment abroad. Moreover, coloniser species had longer bloom periods, higher growth rates and greater resource acquisition, whereas coloniser species becoming invasive had also greater reproductive height and nitrogen use efficiency. This framework has the potential to improve prediction models and management practices to prevent the harmful impacts from species in invaded communities.

Adaptation to bioinvasions: When does it occur?

“…These general “predictors of invasion success” are several and diverse, and they have been investigated across a wide range of organisms. These traits encompass factors related to the dimension of the invader's ecological niche (Díaz et al., 2023), such as heat (Bates et al., 2013) and salinity tolerance (Piscart et al., 2011), immune response (Møller & Cassey, 2004), germination speed (Schlaepfer et al., 2010), time until reproduction (Schlaepfer et al., 2010), fecundity and reproductive rate (Cardeccia et al., 2018; Epifanio, 2013; Jenkins & Keller, 2011). A noteworthy example within this conceptual framework is the pre‐adapted trait of tolerance to inbreeding depression, which has been observed in the invasive ant Brachyponera chinensis .…”

A mechanistic framework of enemy release

“…There are many reasons why the performance of exotic species may increase in their invaded range (Díaz et al., 2023), not all of which are related to release from enemies (Buckley & Catford, 2016). Therefore, support for the ERH requires evidence for both Step 2 (exotics experience reduced enemy pressure) and Step 3 (this reduced enemy pressure leads to increased performance).…”

Aboveground enemy release increases seedling survival in grasslands

“…6c-f). There are many reasons a species may successfully naturalise outside of their native range (Díaz et al, 2023), so this correlation cannot be taken as direct evidence that enemy release facilitated the spread of these species in other parts of the world. For example, as we also found a positive correlation between the effect of enemy release and leaf-acquisitive traits (Fig.…”