TY - JOUR

T1 - Ecological features facilitating spread of alien plants along Mediterranean mountain roads

AU - Santoianni, Lucia Antonietta

AU - Innangi, Michele

AU - Varricchione, Marco

AU - Carboni, Marta

AU - La Bella, Greta

AU - Haider, Sylvia

AU - Stanisci, Angela

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2024.

PY - 2024/11

Y1 - 2024/11

N2 - Invasive alien species represent a major threat to global biodiversity and the sustenance of ecosystems. Globally, mountain ecosystems have shown a degree of resistance to invasive species due to their distinctive ecological features. However, in recent times, the construction of linear infrastructure, such as roads, might weaken this resistance, especially in the Mediterranean basin region. Roads, by acting as efficient corridors, facilitate the dispersal of alien species along elevation gradients in mountains. Here, we investigated how the ecological features and road-associated disturbance in native plant communities affected both the occurrence and cover of alien plant species in Central Apennines (Italy). We implemented the MIREN road survey in three mountain transects conducting vegetation sampling in plots located both adjacent to and distant from the roads at intervals of ~ 100 m in elevation. We then used community-weighted means of Ecological Indicator Values for Europe together with Disturbance Indicator Values applied to plant species of native communities as predictors of alien species occurrence and cover in a machine-learning classification and regression framework. Our analyses showed that alien species’ occurrence was greater in proximity to the road where high soil disturbance occurred and in warm- and light-adapted native communities. On the other hand, alien species cover was more strongly related to moderate grazing pressure and the occurrence of nitrophilic plant communities. These findings provide a baseline for the current status of alien plant species in this Mediterranean mountain region, offering an ecological perspective to address the challenges associated with their management under global change.

AB - Invasive alien species represent a major threat to global biodiversity and the sustenance of ecosystems. Globally, mountain ecosystems have shown a degree of resistance to invasive species due to their distinctive ecological features. However, in recent times, the construction of linear infrastructure, such as roads, might weaken this resistance, especially in the Mediterranean basin region. Roads, by acting as efficient corridors, facilitate the dispersal of alien species along elevation gradients in mountains. Here, we investigated how the ecological features and road-associated disturbance in native plant communities affected both the occurrence and cover of alien plant species in Central Apennines (Italy). We implemented the MIREN road survey in three mountain transects conducting vegetation sampling in plots located both adjacent to and distant from the roads at intervals of ~ 100 m in elevation. We then used community-weighted means of Ecological Indicator Values for Europe together with Disturbance Indicator Values applied to plant species of native communities as predictors of alien species occurrence and cover in a machine-learning classification and regression framework. Our analyses showed that alien species’ occurrence was greater in proximity to the road where high soil disturbance occurred and in warm- and light-adapted native communities. On the other hand, alien species cover was more strongly related to moderate grazing pressure and the occurrence of nitrophilic plant communities. These findings provide a baseline for the current status of alien plant species in this Mediterranean mountain region, offering an ecological perspective to address the challenges associated with their management under global change.

KW - Alien plants

KW - Ecological and disturbance indicators

KW - Italy

KW - Mediterranean mountains

KW - MIREN

KW - Biology

KW - Chemistry

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85200841621&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - https://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10530-024-03418-y

UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/5d0f0398-570b-3180-90fd-c37e5ef86542/

U2 - 10.1007/s10530-024-03418-y

DO - 10.1007/s10530-024-03418-y

M3 - Journal articles

AN - SCOPUS:85200841621

VL - 26

SP - 3879

EP - 3899

JO - Biological Invasions

JF - Biological Invasions

SN - 1387-3547

IS - 11

ER -