Native diversity buffers against severity of non-native tree invasions
Camille S. Delavaux, Thomas W. Crowther, Constantin M. Zohner, Niamh M. Robmann, T. Bruce Lauber, Johan van den Hoogen, Sara E. Kuebbing, Jingjing Liang, Sergio de‐Miguel, G.J. Nabuurs, Peter B. Reich, Meinrad Abegg, Yves C. Adou Yao, Giorgio Alberti, Angélica M. Almeyda Zambrano, Braulio Vílchez Alvarado, Esteban Álvarez‐Dávila, Patricia Álvarez-Loayza, Luciana F. Alves, Christian Ammer, Clara Antón‐Fernández, Alejandro Araujo‐Murakami, Luzmila Arroyo, Valerio Avitabile, Gerardo A. Aymard C., Timothy R. Baker, Radomir Bałazy, Olaf Bánki, Jorcely Barroso, Meredith L. Bastian, Jean‐François Bastin, Luca Birigazzi, Philippe Birnbaum, Robert Bitariho, Pascal Boeckx, Frans Bongers, Olivier Bouriaud, Pedro H. S. Brancalion, Susanne Brandl, Roel Brienen, Eben N. Broadbent, Helge Bruelheide, Filippo Bussotti, Roberto Cazzolla Gatti, Ricardo G. César, Goran Češljar, Robin L. Chazdon, Han Y. H. Chen, Chelsea Chisholm, Hyunkook Cho, Emil Cienciala, Connie J. Clark, David B. Clark, Gabriel Dalla Colletta, David A. Coomes, Fernando Cornejo Valverde, José Javier Corral‐Rivas, Philip M. Crim, Jonathan Cumming, Selvadurai Dayanandan, André Luís de Gasper, Mathieu Decuyper, Géraldine Derroire, Ben DeVries, Ilija Djordjević, Jiří Doležal, Aurélie Dourdain, Nestor Laurier Engone Obiang, Brian J. Enquist, Teresa J. Eyre, Adandé Belarmain Fandohan, Tom M. Fayle, Ted R. Feldpausch, Leandro Valle Ferreira, Markus Fischer, Christine Fletcher, Lorenzo Frizzera, Javier G. P. Gamarra, Damiano Gianelle, Henry B. Glick, David J. Harris, Andy Hector, Andreas Hemp, Geerten Hengeveld, Bruno Hérault, John Herbohn, Martin Herold, Annika Hillers, Eurídice N. Honorio Coronado, Cang Hui, Thomas Ibanez, Iêda Leão do Amaral, Nobuo Imai, Andrzej M. Jagodziński, Bogdan Jaroszewicz, Vivian Kvist Johannsen, Carlos Alfredo Joly, Tommaso Jucker, Ilbin Jung, Viktor Karminov
Abstract
Abstract Determining the drivers of non-native plant invasions is critical for managing native ecosystems and limiting the spread of invasive species 1,2 . Tree invasions in particular have been relatively overlooked, even though they have the potential to transform ecosystems and economies 3,4 . Here, leveraging global tree databases 5–7 , we explore how the phylogenetic and functional diversity of native tree communities, human pressure and the environment influence the establishment of non-native tree species and the subsequent invasion severity. We find that anthropogenic factors are key to predicting whether a location is invaded, but that invasion severity is underpinned by native diversity, with higher diversity predicting lower invasion severity. Temperature and precipitation emerge as strong predictors of invasion strategy, with non-native species invading successfully when they are similar to the native community in cold or dry extremes. Yet, despite the influence of these ecological forces in determining invasion strategy, we find evidence that these patterns can be obscured by human activity, with lower ecological signal in areas with higher proximity to shipping ports. Our global perspective of non-native tree invasion highlights that human drivers influence non-native tree presence, and that native phylogenetic and functional diversity have a critical role in the establishment and spread of subsequent invasions.