Habitat fragmentation differentially affects invasive and native plant diversity in a human-dominated wetland island system

Abstract

Managing invasive species requires identifying the factors that determine alien species invasion success. This study investigates how anthropogenic and biogeographical factors influence alien plant invasion in the Sanyang Wetlands, a human-dominated island system in Wenzhou City, China. Specifically, we analyzed whether human activities (e.g., habitat heterogeneity, proportion of road area, and cultivation) and island characteristics (e.g., island area, isolation) affect the diversity of native and invasive plant species similarly. We also assessed the applicability of the equilibrium theory of island biogeography to invasive plant species diversity and examined how these factors affect invasive plant species with different dispersal syndromes (anemochore, zoochore, and autochore). We found that both invasive and native species richness positively correlate with island area, habitat heterogeneity, and proportion of road area. However, although native species richness was negatively correlated with isolation, invasive species richness was not. The diversity and composition of invasive species with different dispersal syndromes were determined by different variables; for example, the composition and diversity of zoochores was increased by habitat heterogeneity, while anemochore species richness was increased by the proportion of road area, whereas anemochore species composition was influenced by distance to the nearest island. We conclude that habitat fragmentation differentially affects invasive and native plant diversity, aligning with the predictions of the equilibrium theory of island biogeography only for native species but not for invasive species. Our findings indicate that tailoring habitat attributes and regulating human activities could be effective strategies for mitigating the spread of invasive species in fragmented landscapes.