Non-native plants have greater impacts because of differing per-capita effects and non-linear abundance-impact curves
Ecology Letters
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Abstract
Invasive, non-native species can have tremendous impacts on biotic communities, where they reduce the abundance and diversity of local species. However, it remains unclear whether impacts of non-native species arise from their high abundance or whether each non-native individual has a disproportionate impact – i.e., a higher per-capita effect – on co-occurring species compared to impacts by native species. Using a long-term study of wetlands, we asked how temporal variation in dominant native and non-native plants impacted the abundance and richness of other plants in the recipient community. Non-native plants reached higher abundances than natives and had greater per-capita effects. The abundance-impact relationship between plant abundance and richness was nonlinear. Compared with increasing native abundance, increasing non-native abundance was associated with steeper declines in richness because of greater per-capita effects and nonlinearities in the abundance-impact relationship. Our study supports eco-evolutionary novelty of non-natives as a driver of their outsized impacts on communities.
Study Area
| Publication type | Article |
|---|---|
| Publication Subtype | Journal Article |
| Title | Non-native plants have greater impacts because of differing per-capita effects and non-linear abundance-impact curves |
| Series title | Ecology Letters |
| DOI | 10.1111/ele.13284 |
| Volume | 22 |
| Issue | 8 |
| Year Published | 2019 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Wiley |
| Contributing office(s) | Fort Collins Science Center |
| Description | 7 p. |
| First page | 1214 |
| Last page | 1220 |
| Country | United States |
| State | Illinois |
| Google Analytic Metrics | Metrics page |