Interactions between alien plant species traits and habitat characteristics in agricultural landscapes in Finland

Abstract

The survival and success of alien plant species is determined by species traits (i.e., invasiveness) and the characteristics of the habitats in the region of introduction (i.e., invasibility). However, little is known about species traits as related to habitat characteristics. We assessed the characteristics of successful invaders and the interaction of environmental factors and life-history traits for alien plant species. The vascular plants were recorded from 52 agricultural landscapes in Finland. We compared the traits of native and alien plant species with Fisher's exact test and used a three table ordination analysis, RLQ analysis, to relate species traits to environmental conditions. Species were clustered according to their position on the RLQ axes, and the clusters were tested for phylogenetic independence. The successful alien plant species were associated with life form and preferences for moisture and nitrogen, but the trait composition varied according to the habitat type. Two RLQ axes explained 80.5% of the variation, and the species traits were significantly associated with environmental variables. The clustering showed that the occurrence of alien plant species in agricultural habitats was driven by invasion history, traits related to dispersal (dispersal type, seed mass) and habitat preferences, as well as environmental features, such as geographical location, temperature and the quality and disturbance regime of the habitats. All clusters were phylogenetically non-independent. Thus, the clusters of alien species comprised species of diverse taxonomic affinities, although, they shared the traits explaining their occurrence in particular habitats. This information is useful for understanding the link between species traits and the environmental conditions of the habitats, and complexity of the invasion process.

Habitat properties and plant traits interact as drivers of non‐native plant species’ seed production at the local scale

“…Our ability to observe interactions between habitat properties and plant traits heavily relied on the local nature of our approach. Many existing large‐scale studies indeed mostly cover broad habitat characteristics (Chytry et al., ; Pysek, Jarosik, et al., ; yet see Stohlgren et al., ), use environmental data with a large grain size (Petitpierre et al., ), approximate environmental conditions through plant traits like Ellenberg values (Simonova & Lososova, ), or only assess plant traits at the species level (Carboni et al., ; Jauni & Hyvonen, ; Vicente et al., , ). Yet we do know that different drivers of invasibility (like biotic interactions, disturbance, and soil types on top of climate and land use) might be relevant at smaller spatial scales (Milbau et al., ).…”

“…Reviews, meta‐analyses, and large‐scale datamining approaches play an increasingly important role in this regard, by jointly assessing several possible drivers of invasion at once (Catford, Vesk, Richardson, & Pyšek, ; Chytry et al., ; Kueffer, Pysek, & Richardson, ; Lonsdale, ; Pysek, Jarosik, et al., ). Yet such large‐scale approaches, while highly valuable at the species level, often suffer from a reduced accuracy, as they rely on the aggregation of data from varying sources and are often limited to the use of approximated environmental or trait variables for which large datasets are available (Jansen, Ewald, & Zerbe, ; Jauni & Hyvonen, ; Milbau & Stout, ). Local observational studies, on the other hand, excel in detail and comparability of measurements, yet are often limited in the amount of explanatory variables assessed, measure only in a few sites, or consider only a few invasive species (e.g., Erfmeier & Bruelheide, ; Godefroid, Phartyal, Weyembergh, & Koedam, ).…”

“…). Yet such large-scale approaches, while highly valuable at the species level, often suffer from a reduced accuracy, as they rely on the aggregation of data from varying sources and are often limited to the use of approximated environmental or trait variables for which large datasets are available (Jansen, Ewald, & Zerbe, 2011;Jauni & Hyvonen, 2012;Milbau & Stout, 2008). Local observational studies, on the other hand, excel in detail and comparability of measurements, yet are often limited in the amount of explanatory variables assessed, measure only in a few sites, or consider only a few invasive species (e.g., Erfmeier & Bruelheide, 2010;Godefroid, Phartyal, Weyembergh, & Koedam, 2005).…”

Habitat invasion research: where vegetation science and invasion ecology meet

“…), lumping all alien species together and using species richness as currency. Yet, different traits are likely to play varying roles in particular habitats (Dainese & Bragazza ; Jauni & Hyvönen ) and in different stages of the invasion process, from casual through naturalized to invasive (Williamson ; Richardson & Pyšek ). The role of habitat characteristics in shaping the naturalization process, a key stage preceding invasion, remains largely unexplored, yet the habitat in which naturalization takes place is a key component of invasion success (Richardson & Pyšek ). Incorporating species’ habitat affinity in both the native and invaded ranges into models explaining species invasiveness and habitat invasibility would deepen current understanding of the role species traits play in invasion success, and of the context‐dependence of trait‐related processes (Pyšek et al.…”

Complex Undisturbed Riparian Zones Are Resistant to Colonisation by Invasive Alien Plant Species

“…The most common herbaceous perennials in the present survey were S. gigantea, H. tuberosus, F. japonica, F. x bohemica, and S. canadensis. The number of IAS annuals was related to land use adjacent to the RZ, and especially that subjected to frequent disturbance [59,60]. The most common tree IAS was R. pseudacacia, which contributed the majority (68%) of occurrences of tree IAS.…”