Invasive alien plant species in China: regional distribution patterns

Abstract

Plant invasions have been attracting increasing attention from ecologists because of their worldwide environmental impacts and huge economic costs. Research on the characteristics of the recipient regions is essential for understanding the process of plant invasion. However, few previous studies on invasibility of habitats include social factors, although human activities are critical in the process of plant invasion. China is a vast country with high plant species diversity and a long history of introduction of exotic plant species and is particularly vulnerable to invasive plant species. Alien plant species are widespread in the country. Therefore, the study of invasive plants in China is urgent in practice and theoretically important for developing invasion ecology. For the present study, 126 species were selected to represent the major invasive plant species in China. We then collected data on their species richness in 31 provincial administrative units of China and performed Spearman rank correlations between species richness and possible natural and socio-economic factors. We found that socio-economic factors, such as human density and GDP, correlated positively with the species richness of invasive plants in China. In conjunction with the natural and socio-economic correlations in the study of regional distribution pattern of the major invasive plants, we discussed the factors influencing the regional distribution pattern of the major invasive plants in China. We suggest that native plant species richness was mainly determined by the natural conditions of the regions, while invasive species richness was influenced by natural conditions and human disturbance together.

Differences in beta diversity between exotic and native grasslands vary with scale along a latitudinal gradient

“…We hypothesize that compared to the north, the south either had more species introduced (and thus more community assembly events and associated management), weaker competitors, or less stressful conditions that permitted establishment of more exotic species (Alpert et al 2000, Sax 2001, Liu et al 2005. Therefore, when exotic species were introduced in the south, they were able to cause greater divergence in species composition relative to native prairies they replaced.…”

Biological invasions in rapidly urbanizing areas: a case study of Beijing, China

“…In this sense, invasives should be considered as a subset of naturalized species capable of spreading considerably and with harmful effects, a definition which could also be equated with the terms ''transformers'' and ''weeds'' as defined by Richardson et al (2000) and Pyšek et al (2004). In order to develop a comprehensive list of the naturalized and invasive flora of Beijing Municipality, we first reviewed all the relevant literature concerning naturalized and invasive species, both at national level and specifically for Beijing area (e.g., Li and Xie 2002;Liu et al 2002;Meng et al 2004;Xu and Qiang 2004;Liu et al 2005;Wan et al 2005;Liu et al 2006;Lin et al 2007;Fang and Wan 2009;Feng and Zhu 2010;Wu et al 2010;Zhao et al 2010). Extensive fieldwork was then carried out to verify the presence of these species in Beijing, and to identify previously undetected species.…”

Eradicating invasive Spartina alterniflora with alien Sonneratia apetala and its implications for invasion controls

“…With intensified anthropogenic activities, new invasion of alien species continues all over the world, especially in regions with rapidly developing trade and economics, e.g. China (Kowarik, 2003;Lin et al, 2007;Liu et al, 2005). Moreover, global warming enables alien species to expand into regions where they previously could not survive and reproduce (Walther et al, 2009).…”