Linear scaling – negative effects of invasive Spiraea tomentosa (Rosaceae) on wetland plants and pollinator communities

Abstract

Invasive plants directly and indirectly disrupt the ecosystem functioning, of which indirect effects, for example, through trophic cascades, are particularly difficult to predict. It is frequently assumed that the impact of an invading species on the ecosystem is proportional (linearly related) to its density or abundance in a habitat, but this assumption has rarely been tested. We hypothesised that abundance and richness of plants and potentially pollinators of wet meadows change as a result of invasion of steeplebush Spiraea tomentosa and that these changes are proportional to the density of the shrub. We selected 27 sites amongst wet meadows habitats invaded by S. tomentosa with coverage ranging from 0% to 100% and examined the diversity of plants, as well as the abundance and diversity of flower visitors (bees, butterflies with moths and flies). Our results showed that the richness of plants, as well as the richness and number of individuals of flower visitors, decrease significantly and linearly with an increase of the S. tomentosa cover. This finding supports the hypothesis that the impact of an invasive species can be proportional to their population density, especially if this species is limiting the available resources without supplying others. Our study is the first to show such an unequivocal negative, linear effect of an invasive shrub on the abundance and richness of potential pollinators. It proves that the negative impact of S. tomentosa on the wetland ecosystem appears even with a minor coverage of the invader, which should be taken into account when planning activities aimed at controlling the population of this transformer species. The simultaneously detected linear dependence allows us to assume that the benefits of controlling secondary populations of the shrub can be proportional to the incurred effort.