Moussab/ORKG-training-evaluation-set huggingface dataset:
Research field: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Title: Invasibility of tropical islands by introduced plants: partitioning the influence of isolation and propagule pressure
Abstract: All else being equal, more isolated islands should be more susceptible to invasion because their native species are derived from a smaller pool of colonists, and isolated islands may be missing key functional groups. Although some analyses seem to support this hypothesis, previous studies have not taken into account differences in the number of plant introductions made to different islands, which will affect invasibility estimates. Furthermore, previous studies have not assessed invasibility in terms of the rates at which introduced plant species attain different degrees invasion or naturalization. I compared the naturalization status of introduced plants on two pairs of Pacific island groups that are similar in most respects but that differ in their distances from a mainland. Then, to factor out differences in propagule pressure due to differing numbers of introductions, I compared the naturalization status only among shared introductions. In the first comparison, Hawai‘i (3700 km from a mainland) had three times more casual/weakly naturalized, naturalized and pest species than Taiwan (160 km from a mainland); however, roughly half (54%) of this difference can be attributed to a larger number of plant introductions to Hawai‘i. In the second comparison, Fiji (2500 km from a mainland) did not differ in susceptibility to invasion in comparison to New Caledonia (1000 km from a mainland); the latter two island groups appear to have experienced roughly similar propagule pressure, and they have similar invasibility. The rate at which naturalized species have become pests is similar for Hawai‘i and other island groups. The higher susceptibility of Hawai‘i to invasion is related to more species entering the earliest stages in the invasion process (more casual and weakly naturalized species), and these higher numbers are then maintained in the naturalized and pest pools. The number of indigenous (not endemic) species was significantly correlated with susceptibility to invasion across all four island groups. When islands share similar climates and habitat diversity, the number of indigenous species may be a better predictor of invasibility than indices of physical isolation because it is a composite measure of biological isolation.
Extracted statement — Investigated species: Plants
Research field: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Title: Are island plant communities more invaded than their mainland counterparts?
Abstract: Questions: Are island vegetation communities moreinvaded than their mainland counterparts? Is thispattern consistent among community types?Location: The coastal provinces of Catalonia andthepara-oceanicBalearicIslands,bothinNESpain.These islands were connected to the continent morethan 5.35 million years ago and are now locatedo200km from the coast.Methods: We compiled a database of almost 3000phytosociological releve´s from the Balearic Islandsand Catalonia and compared the level of invasionby alien plants in island versus mainland commu-nities. Twenty distinct plant community typeswere compared between island and mainland coun-terparts.Results: The percentage of plots with alien species,number, percentage and cover percentage of alienspecies per plot was greater in Catalonia than in theBalearic Islands in most communities. Overall,across communities, more alien species were foundin the mainland (53) compared to the islands (onlynine). Despite these differences, patterns of the levelof invasion in communities were highly consistentbetween the islands and mainland. The most in-vaded communities were ruderal and riparian.Main conclusion: Our results indicate that para-oceanic island communities such as the BalearicIslands are less invaded than their mainlandcounterparts. This difference reﬂects a smaller re-gional alien species pool in the Balearic Islands thanin the adjacent mainland, probably due to differ-ences in landscape heterogeneity and propagulepressure.Keywords: alien plants; Balearic Islands; communitysimilarity; Mediterranean communities; para-ocea-nic islands; releve´; species richness.Nomenclature: Bolo`s & Vigo (1984–2001), Rivas-Martinez et al. (2001).
Extracted statement — Investigated species: Plants
Research field: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Title: Positive interactions among plant species for pollinator service: assessing the 'magnet species' concept with invasive species
Abstract: Plants with poorly attractive flowers or with little floral rewards may have inadequate pollinator service, which in turn reduces seed output. However, pollinator service of less attractive species could be enhanced when they are associated with species with highly attractive flowers (so called ‘magnet-species’). Although several studies have reported the magnet species effect, few of them have evaluated whether this positive interaction result in an enhancement of the seed output for the beneficiary species. Here, we compared pollinator visitation rates and seed output of the invasive annual species Carduus pycnocephalus when grow associated with shrubs of the invasive Lupinus arboreus and when grow alone, and hypothesized that L. arboreus acts as a magnet species for C. pycnocephalus. Results showed that C. pycnocephalus individuals associated with L. arboreus had higher pollinator visitation rates and higher seed output than individuals growing alone. The higher visitation rates of C. pycnocephalus associated to L. arboreus were maintained after accounting for flower density, which consistently supports our hypothesis on the magnet species effect of L. arboreus. Given that both species are invasives, the facilitated pollination and reproduction of C. pycnocephalus by L. arboreus could promote its naturalization in the community, suggesting a synergistic invasional process contributing to an ‘invasional meltdown’. The magnet effect of Lupinus on Carduus found in this study seems to be one the first examples of indirect facilitative interactions via increased pollination among invasive species.
Extracted statement — Investigated species: Plants
Research field: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Title: Facilitation and competition among invasive plants: A field experiment with alligatorweed and water hyacinth
Abstract: Ecosystems that are heavily invaded by an exotic species often contain abundant populations of other invasive species. This may reflect shared responses to a common factor, but may also reflect positive interactions among these exotic species. Armand Bayou (Pasadena, TX) is one such ecosystem where multiple species of invasive aquatic plants are common. We used this system to investigate whether presence of one exotic species made subsequent invasions by other exotic species more likely, less likely, or if it had no effect. We performed an experiment in which we selectively removed exotic rooted and/or floating aquatic plant species and tracked subsequent colonization and growth of native and invasive species. This allowed us to quantify how presence or absence of one plant functional group influenced the likelihood of successful invasion by members of the other functional group. We found that presence of alligatorweed (rooted plant) decreased establishment of new water hyacinth (free-floating plant) patches but increased growth of hyacinth in established patches, with an overall net positive effect on success of water hyacinth. Water hyacinth presence had no effect on establishment of alligatorweed but decreased growth of existing alligatorweed patches, with an overall net negative effect on success of alligatorweed. Moreover, observational data showed positive correlations between hyacinth and alligatorweed with hyacinth, on average, more abundant. The negative effect of hyacinth on alligatorweed growth implies competition, not strong mutual facilitation (invasional meltdown), is occurring in this system. Removal of hyacinth may increase alligatorweed invasion through release from competition. However, removal of alligatorweed may have more complex effects on hyacinth patch dynamics because there were strong opposing effects on establishment versus growth. The mix of positive and negative interactions between floating and rooted aquatic plants may influence local population dynamics of each group and thus overall invasion pressure in this watershed.
Extracted statement — Investigated species: Plants
Research field: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Title: Experimental evidence for indirect facilitation among invasive plants
Abstract: Facilitation among species may promote non‐native plant invasions through alteration of environmental conditions, enemies or mutualists. However, the role of non‐trophic indirect facilitation in invasions has rarely been examined. We used a long‐term field experiment to test for indirect facilitation by invasions of Microstegium vimineum (stiltgrass) on a secondary invasion of Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard) by introducing Alliaria seed into replicated plots previously invaded experimentally by Microstegium. Alliaria more readily colonized control plots without Microstegium but produced almost seven times more biomass and nearly four times as many siliques per plant in Microstegium‐invaded plots. Improved performance of Alliaria in Microstegium‐invaded plots compared to control plots overwhelmed differences in total number of plants such that, on average, invaded plots contained 327% greater total Alliaria biomass and 234% more total siliques compared to control plots. The facilitation of Alliaria in Microstegium‐invaded plots was associated with an 85% reduction in the biomass of resident species at the peak of the growing season and significantly greater light availability in Microstegium‐invaded than control plots early in the growing season. Synthesis. Our results demonstrate that an initial plant invasion associated with suppression of resident species and increased resource availability can facilitate a secondary plant invasion. Such positive interactions among species with similar habitat requirements, but offset phenologies, may exacerbate invasions and their impacts on native ecosystems.
Extracted statement — Investigated species: Plants
Research field: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Title: Plant community ssociations of two invasive thistles
Abstract: We assessed the field-scale plant community associations of Carduus nutans and C. acanthoides, two similar, economically important invasive thistles. Several plant species were associated with the presence of Carduus thistles while others, including an important pasture species, were associated with Carduus free areas. Thus, even within fields, areas invaded by Carduus thistles have different vegetation than uninvaded areas, either because some plants can resist invasion or because invasion changes the local plant community. Our results will allow us to target future research about the role of vegetation structure in resisting and responding to invasion.
Extracted statement — Investigated species: Plants
Research field: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Title: Biodiversity ffects and rates of spred of nonnative eucalypt woodlands in central California
Abstract: Woodlands comprised of planted, nonnative trees are increasing in extent globally, while native woodlands continue to decline due to human activities. The ecological impacts of planted woodlands may include changes to the communities of understory plants and animals found among these nonnative trees relative to native woodlands, as well as invasion of adjacent habitat areas through spread beyond the originally planted areas. Eucalypts (Eucalyptus spp.) are among the most widely planted trees worldwide, and are very common in California, USA. The goals of our investigation were to compare the biological communities of nonnative eucalypt woodlands to native oak woodlands in coastal central California, and to examine whether planted eucalypt groves have increased in size over the past decades. We assessed site and habitat attributes and characterized biological communities using understory plant, ground-dwelling arthropod, amphibian, and bird communities as indicators. Degree of difference between native and nonnative woodlands depended on the indicator used. Eucalypts had significantly greater canopy height and cover, and significantly lower cover by perennial plants and species richness of arthropods than oaks. Community composition of arthropods also differed significantly between eucalypts and oaks. Eucalypts had marginally significantly deeper litter depth, lower abundance of native plants with ranges limited to western North America, and lower abundance of amphibians. In contrast to these differences, eucalypt and oak groves had very similar bird community composition, species richness, and abundance. We found no evidence of "invasional meltdown," documenting similar abundance and richness of nonnatives in eucalypt vs. oak woodlands. Our time-series analysis revealed that planted eucalypt groves increased 271% in size, on average, over six decades, invading adjacent areas. Our results inform science-based management of California woodlands, revealing that while bird communities would probably not be affected by restoration of eucalypt to oak woodlands, such a restoration project would not only stop the spread of eucalypts into adjacent habitats but would also enhance cover by western North American native plants and perennials, enhance amphibian abundance, and increase arthropod richness.
Extracted statement — Investigated species: Plants
Research field: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Title: Alien aquatic plant species in European countries
Abstract: Hussner A (2012). Alien aquatic plant species in European countries. Weed Research52, 297–306. Summary Alien aquatic plant species cause serious ecological and economic impacts to European freshwater ecosystems. This study presents a comprehensive overview of all alien aquatic plants in Europe, their places of origin and their distribution within the 46 European countries. In total, 96 aquatic species from 30 families have been reported as aliens from at least one European country. Most alien aquatic plants are native to Northern America, followed by Asia and Southern America. Elodea canadensis is the most widespread alien aquatic plant in Europe, reported from 41 European countries. Azolla filiculoides ranks second (25), followed by Vallisneria spiralis (22) and Elodea nuttallii (20). The highest number of alien aquatic plant species has been found in Italy and France (34 species), followed by Germany (27), Belgium and Hungary (both 26) and the Netherlands (24). Even though the number of alien aquatic plants seems relatively small, the European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization (EPPO, http://www.eppo.org) has listed 18 of these species as invasive or potentially invasive within the EPPO region. As ornamental trade has been regarded as the major pathway for the introduction of alien aquatic plants, trading bans seem to be the most effective option to reduce the risk of further unintended entry of alien aquatic plants into Europe.
Extracted statement — Investigated species: Plants
Research field: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Title: Marketing time predicts naturalization of horticultural plants
Abstract: Horticulture is an important source of naturalized plants, but our knowledge about naturalization frequencies and potential patterns of naturalization in horticultural plants is limited. We analyzed a unique set of data derived from the detailed sales catalogs (1887-1930) of the most important early Florida, USA, plant nursery (Royal Palm Nursery) to detect naturalization patterns of these horticultural plants in the state. Of the 1903 nonnative species sold by the nursery, 15% naturalized. The probability of plants becoming naturalized increases significantly with the number of years the plants were marketed. Plants that became invasive and naturalized were sold for an average of 19.6 and 14.8 years, respectively, compared to 6.8 years for non-naturalized plants, and the naturalization of plants sold for 30 years or more is 70%. Unexpectedly, plants that were sold earlier were less likely to naturalize than those sold later. The nursery's inexperience, which caused them to grow and market many plants unsuited to Florida during their early period, may account for this pattern. Plants with pantropical distributions and those native to both Africa and Asia were more likely to naturalize (42%), than were plants native to other smaller regions, suggesting that plants with large native ranges were more likely to naturalize. Naturalization percentages also differed according to plant life form, with the most naturalization occurring in aquatic herbs (36.8%) and vines (30.8%). Plants belonging to the families Araceae, Apocynaceae, Convolvulaceae, Moraceae, Oleaceae, and Verbenaceae had higher than expected naturalization. Information theoretic model selection indicated that the number of years a plant was sold, alone or together with the first year a plant was sold, was the strongest predictor of naturalization. Because continued importation and marketing of nonnative horticultural plants will lead to additional plant naturalization and invasion, a comprehensive approach to address this problem, including research to identifyand select noninvasive forms and types of horticultural plants is urgently needed.
Extracted statement — Investigated species: Plants
Research field: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Title: Predicting the Australian weed status of southern African plants
Abstract: A method of predicting weed status was developed for southern African plants naturalized in Australia, based upon information on extra-Australian weed status, distribution and taxonomy. Weed status in Australia was associated with being geographically widespread in southern Africa, being found in a wide range of climates in southern Africa, being described as a weed or targeted by herbicides in southern Africa, with early introduction and establishment in Australia, and with weediness in regions other than southern Africa. Multiple logistic regressions were used to identify the variables that best predicted weed status. The best fitting regressions were for weeds present for a long time in Australia (more than 140 years). They utilized three variables, namely weed status, climatic range in southern Africa and the existence of congeneric weeds in southern Africa. The highest level of variation explained (43%) was obtained for agricultural weeds using a single variable, weed status in southern Africa. Being recorded as a weed in Australia was related to climatic range and the existence of congeneric weeds in southern Africa (40% of variation explained). No variables were suitable predictors of non-agricultural (environmental) weeds. The regressions were used to predict future weed status of plants either not introduced or recently arrived in Australia. Recently-arrived species which were predicted to become weeds are Acacia karroo Hayne (Mimosaceae), Arctotis venustra T. Norl. (Asteraceae), Sisymbrium thellungii O.E. Schulz (Brassicaceae) and Solanum retroflexum Dun. (Solanaceae). Twenty species not yet arrived in Australia were predicted to have a high likelihood of becoming weeds. Analysis of the residuals of the regressions indicated two long-established species which might prove to be good targets for biological control: Mesembryanthemum crystallinum L. (Aizoaceae) and Watsonia meriana (L.) Mill. (Iridaceae).
Extracted statement — Investigated species: Plants
Research field: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Title: How well do we understand the impacts of alien species on ecosystem services? A pan-European, cross-taxa assessment
Abstract: Recent comprehensive data provided through the DAISIE project (www.europe-aliens.org) have facilitated the development of the first pan-European assessment of the impacts of alien plants, vertebrates, and invertebrates – in terrestrial, freshwater, and marine environments – on ecosystem services. There are 1094 species with documented ecological impacts and 1347 with economic impacts. The two taxonomic groups with the most species causing impacts are terrestrial invertebrates and terrestrial plants. The North Sea is the maritime region that suffers the most impacts. Across taxa and regions, ecological and economic impacts are highly correlated. Terrestrial invertebrates create greater economic impacts than ecological impacts, while the reverse is true for terrestrial plants. Alien species from all taxonomic groups affect “supporting”, “provisioning”, “regulating”, and “cultural” services and interfere with human well-being. Terrestrial vertebrates are responsible for the greatest range of impacts, and these are widely distributed across Europe. Here, we present a review of the financial costs, as the first step toward calculating an estimate of the economic consequences of alien species in Europe.
Extracted statement — Investigated species: Plants
Research field: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Title: Plant introductions in Australia: how can we resolve ‘weedy’ conflicts of interest?
Abstract: Over 27,000 exotic plant species have been introduced to Australia, predominantly for use in gardening, agriculture and forestry. Less than 1% of such introductions have been solely accidental. Plant introductions also occur within Australia, as exotic and native species are moved across the country. Plant-based industries contribute around $50 billion to Australia’s economy each year, play a signifi cant social role and can also provide environmental benefi ts such as mitigating dryland salinity. However, one of the downsides of a new plant introduction is the potential to become a new weed. Overall, 10% of exotic plant species introduced since European settlement have naturalised, but this rate is higher for agricultural and forestry plants. Exotic plant species have become agricultural, noxious and natural ecosystem weeds at rates of 4%, 1% and 7% respectively. Whilst garden plants have the lowest probability of becoming weeds this is more than compensated by their vast numbers of introductions, such that gardening is the greatest source of weeds in Australia. Resolving confl icts of interest with plant introductions needs a collaborative effort between those stakeholders who would benefi t (i.e. grow the plant) and those who would potentially lose (i.e. gain a weed) to compare the weed risk, feasibility of management and benefi ts of the species in question. For proposed plant imports to Australia, weed risk is presently the single consideration under international trade rules. Hence the focus is on ensuring the optimal performance of the border Weed Risk Assessment System. For plant species already present in Australia there are inconsistencies in managing weed risk between the States/Territories. This is being addressed with the development of a national standard for weed risk management. For agricultural and forestry species of high economic value but signifi cant weed risk, the feasibility of standard risk management approaches needs to be investigated. Invasive garden plants need national action.
Extracted statement — Investigated species: Plants