Successful Alien Plant Species Exhibit Functional Dissimilarity From Natives Under Varied Climatic Conditions but Not Under Increased Nutrient Availability

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Authors

  • Marija Milanović
  • Jonathan D. Bakker
  • Lori Biederman
  • Elizabeth T. Borer
  • Jane A. Catford
  • Elsa Cleland
  • Nicole Hagenah
  • Sylvia Haider
  • W. Stanley Harpole
  • Kimberly Komatsu
  • Andrew S. MacDougall
  • Christine Römermann
  • Eric W. Seabloom
  • Sonja Knapp
  • Ingolf Kühn

Aims: The community composition of native and alien plant species is influenced by the environment (e.g., nutrient addition and changes in temperature or precipitation). A key objective of our study is to understand how differences in the traits of alien and native species vary across diverse environmental conditions. For example, the study examines how changes in nutrient availability affect community composition and functional traits, such as specific leaf area and plant height. Additionally, it seeks to assess the vulnerability of high-nutrient environments, such as grasslands, to alien species colonization and the potential for alien species to surpass natives in abundance. Finally, the study explores how climatic factors, including temperature and precipitation, modulate the relationship between traits and environmental conditions, shaping species success. Location: In our study, we used data from a globally distributed experiment manipulating nutrient supplies in grasslands worldwide (NutNet). Methods: We investigate how temporal shifts in the abundance of native and alien species are influenced by species-specific functional traits, including specific leaf area (SLA) and leaf nutrient concentrations, as well as by environmental conditions such as climate and nutrient treatments, across 17 study sites. Mixed-effects models were used to assess these relationships. Results: Alien and native species increasing in their abundance did not differ in their leaf traits. We found significantly lower specific leaf area (SLA) with an increase in mean annual temperature and lower leaf Potassium with mean annual precipitation. For trait–environment relationships, when compared to native species, successful aliens exhibited an increase in leaf Phosphorus and a decrease in leaf Potassium with an increase in mean annual precipitation. Finally, aliens' SLA decreased in plots with higher mean annual temperatures. Conclusions: Therefore, studying the relationship between environment and functional traits may portray grasslands' dynamics better than focusing exclusively on traits of successful species, per se.

Original languageEnglish
Article numbere70032
JournalJournal of Vegetation Science
Volume36
Issue number2
Number of pages12
ISSN1100-9233
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 01.03.2025

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2025 The Author(s). Journal of Vegetation Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of International Association for Vegetation Science.

    Research areas

  • exotic species, grasslands, invasive species, leaf functional traits, nutrient addition, nutrient network (nut net), plant traits
  • Biology
  • Ecosystems Research

DOI

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