Correlational patterns between invertebrate species composition and the presence of an invasive plant

Abstract

Abstract It is widely assumed that the presence of invasive exotic plants causes a negative impact on native biotas. Here, we analyse the correlational patterns between the presence of one of these invasive plants, the South African Hottentot fig, Carpobrotus acinaciformis (L.) L. Bolus (Aizoaceae), and the terrestrial invertebrate species composition of a Mediterranean rocky shore. Variations in invertebrate community were estimated by determining the presence–absence of 94 species in 30 plots along a 2.5 km shoreline. Canonical correspondence analyses revealed that three environmental variables showed significant correlation with the invertebrate presence–absence matrix. Namely, distance to the nearest urban area, soil type, and vegetation type. Presence–absence of the invasive plant was correlated with these environmental variables, but no additional effect on the invertebrate community specifically attributable to the presence of the invasive plant was detected. These facts exemplify the uncertainties in linking the presence of an invasive species with its putative outcomes because they are consistent with the hypothesis that a general gradient of anthropic influence affects the invertebrate species composition, and that the supposed effects of C. acinaciformis on the invertebrate species composition are correlated with (and therefore, indiscernible from) those derived from the existence of such general gradient of anthropic influence.