Abstract Detail

Plant invasions in a time of environmental change

D'Antonio, Carla M [1], Molinari, Nicole [2].

Invasive plant impacts: the role of novelty, abundance and per capita effect traits.

While dozens of studies have evaluated species traits that predict plant invasiveness, very few have evaluated traits specifically leading to impact. We believe this is in part the result of the difficulty of measuring and defining what an impact is and the fact that many invasive plant species are suspected of having multiple types of impacts. Using the California Invasive Plant Council’s list of “harmful non-native species”, we evaluated the most common types of impacts associated with differently ranked invaders (high vs low impact), and then assessed the traits most commonly associated with the development of their suspected impact. We divided traits into those associated with species abundance, and those associated with the per capita effect of individual plants. We were particularly interested in whether trait novelty was disproportionately associated with high impact species. We found that high impact invaders were more likely to have unique per capita effect traits compared to lower impact invaders but that such traits were not a prerequisite for high impact. The group of per capita effect traits that most distinguished high versus low impact invaders were those associated with soil modification. Traits associated with low impact invaders were mainly those that affected their population growth rate.

Broader Impacts:

1 - University of California Santa Barbara, Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology, Santa BArbara, CA, 93106, USA
2 - University of California Santa Barbara, Ecology,Evolution and Marine Biology, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, USA

Keywords:
Invasive plants
introduced plant species
exotic species
alien plant species
Soil properties
ecosystem processes
species traits.

Presentation Type: Symposium or Colloquium Presentation
Session: SY2
Location: Ballroom B/Convention Center
Date: Monday, August 2nd, 2010
Time: 10:45 AM
Number: SY2007
Abstract ID:780