Functional niche differences between native and invasive tree species from the southern Brazilian mixed forest.

Janaina G Larsen,Guilherme N Dos Santos,Charline Zangalli,Catieli L Redin,Cezário F Santos Júnior,Claudio T.C Correoso,Taynara O.L Buss,Ana Carolina Da Silva,Guilherme D Fockink,Vanderlei Dos Santos,Pedro Higuchi

doi:10.1590/0001-3765202020200410

Janaina G Larsen, Guilherme N Dos Santos + Show 9 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1590/0001-3765202020200410

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Abstract

Biological invasion is a major threat to global biodiversity and ecosystem services. We examined the functional traits similarity between a set of native and non-native invasive tree species from the Southern Brazilian subtropical mixed forest, part of an important global hotspot for biodiversity conservation. We hypothesized that invasive species occupy marginal niche spaces. We ordered the species using the Principal Component Analysis based on their wood density, leaf area, and specific leaf area. These are all important traits that summarize essential ecological strategies associated with resource acquisition and conservation. Functional overlaps between non-native and native species were analyzed through kernel density estimation of continuous traits data. While native and non-native invasive species were distributed along the same functional gradients, the position of non-native species in the functional space is species and traits specific. We concluded that within Brazilian subtropical mixed forests, the functional dissimilarity as a key factor in invasion success could not be generalized for all species and traits.

Highlights

Biological invasion is a pervasive expression of the Anthropocene (Kueffer 2017) and a major threat to global biodiversity (Mack et al 2000, Vilà et al 2011, Bellard et al 2016)
By overlapping the convex hulls of native and non-native species in the ordination, we evaluated how each group shares the functional gradients summarized by the Principal Component Analysis (PCA) axis
While Axis 1 summarized ecological strategies related to leaf area and specific leaf area, Axis 2 was associated with wood density

Summary

Introduction

Biological invasion is a pervasive expression of the Anthropocene (Kueffer 2017) and a major threat to global biodiversity (Mack et al 2000, Vilà et al 2011, Bellard et al 2016). This is a complex process that is influenced by biotic and abiotic factors (Richardson et al 2000, Shea & Chesson 2002, MacDougall et al 2009, Blackburn et al 2015). Release from negative biotic interactions, such as herbivores (Williams & Sahli 2016) and positives feedback (e.g., mycorrhizal fungi fostering invasive species in novel areas) (Urcelay et al 2019) may favor nonnatives to outperform local species (Mitchell et al 2006, Blumenthal et al 2009)

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