Abstract
Plant invasions are among the key drivers of global biodiversity and ecosystem change. They often cause reductions in native species richness and overall biodiversity. Nitrogen-fixing plants are problematic as they affect soil nutrient availability and outcompete species of nutrient-poor sites. Here we assessed the impacts of the legume Lupinus polyphyllus on species and functional diversity of mountain meadow communities in the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve Rhön. We compared species diversity (richness, evenness and effective species number), functional diversity (functional richness, evenness, divergence and dispersion) and similarity of plots in three characteristic vegetation types (Nardus grassland, mesic and wet mountain hay meadows) between different lupine cover classes. We calculated community weighted means (CWMs) of single plant traits and plotted them against lupine cover classes. The invasion of L. polyphyllus homogenizes vegetation composition since the similarity among plots of the different vegetation types increased with increasing lupine cover. It significantly affected species diversity in terms of richness and effective species number and the functional divergence of the vegetation. The trait set of species occurring together with lupine was shifted towards more competitive trait values. We demonstrate strongly negative impacts of L. polyphyllus on different mountain meadow vegetation types since L. polyphyllus, fosters the growth of competitive species and leads to overall more productive plant communities.
Highlights
Plant invasions are considered one of the major drivers of ecosystem modification and biodiversity change at the global scale (Davis et al 2011; Duraiappah et al 2005; Hejda and Pysek 2009; Keller et al 2011)
Significant variables in wet hay meadows were Ellenberg indicator values N, R, L and M as well as lupine cover, all of which correlate with axis one
Our results suggest that the invasive L. polyphyllus has significant effects on species composition of mountain meadow communities
Summary
Plant invasions are considered one of the major drivers of ecosystem modification and biodiversity change at the global scale (Davis et al 2011; Duraiappah et al 2005; Hejda and Pysek 2009; Keller et al 2011). Invasive species may alter the species composition of native communities (Hejda 2013; Otte and Maul 2005; Thiele et al 2010). They are generally considered to reduce species richness or even erode whole gene pools by the extinction of endemics Sax and Gaines (2003) pointed out that non-native species might increase species richness at regional scales
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