Understorey plant community composition reflects invasion history decades after invasive Rhododendron has been removed

Abstract

Abstract A growing awareness of the destructive effects of non‐native invasive species has led to a massive increase in removal programmes around the world. However, little is generally known about what happens to sites following the removal of the invasives and the implicit assumption that the native community will return, unaided, to pre‐invasion conditions is often left untested. We assessed recovery of the native understorey plant community following removal of the non‐native invasive Rhododendron ponticum L. from Scottish Atlantic oak woodland. We recorded understorey community composition in sites covering a gradient of increasing R. ponticum density, and across a separate series of sites covering a chronosequence of time since R. ponticum removal. We then compared both of these series to the target community found in uninvaded sites. We also analysed differences in soil chemistry between the sites to test for chemical legacy effects of invasion in the soil. Native understorey cover declined as R. ponticum density increased, with bryophytes dropping to less than a third of the cover present in uninvaded sites and forbs and grasses being completely extirpated under dense stands. Cleared sites showed no evidence of returning to the target community, even after 30 years of recovery, and instead formed a bryophyte‐dominated “novel community,” containing few of the typical oak woodland vascular plants. Contrary to expectation, soil pH, C:N ratio and nutrient concentrations (N, P, K, Ca and Mg) were not affected by the invasion of R. ponticum, and chemical legacy effects in the soil were not responsible for the failure of the native community to revert to pre‐invasion conditions. Instead, we hypothesise that the rapid formation of a bryophyte mat, coupled with the often substantial distances to potential seed sources, hindered vascular plant recolonisation. Synthesis and applications. Clear evidence of invasion history can be detected in the understorey plant community even decades after the successful removal of the invasive Rhododendron ponticum L. This finding demonstrates that native communities may be unable to recover effectively of their own accord following invasive species removal, and will require further management interventions in order to achieve restoration goals.