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Predicting invasion in grassland ecosystems: is exotic dominance the real embarrassment of richness?

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Predicting invasion in grassland ecosystems: is exotic dominance the real embarrassment of richness? / Seabloom, Eric W.; Borer, Elizabeth T.; Buckley, Yvonne et al.
In: Global Change Biology, Vol. 19, No. 12, 01.12.2013, p. 3677-3687.

Research output: Contribution to Journal/MagazineJournal articlepeer-review

Harvard

Seabloom, EW, Borer, ET, Buckley, Y, Cleland, EE, Davies, K, Firn, J, Harpole, WS, Hautier, Y, Lind, E, Macdougall, A, Orrock, JL, Prober, SM, Adler, P, Alberti, J, Michael Anderson, T, Bakker, JD, Biederman, LA, Blumenthal, D, Brown, CS, Brudvig, LA, Caldeira, M, Chu, C, Crawley, MJ, Daleo, P, Damschen, EI, D'antonio, CM, Decrappeo, NM, Dickman, CR, Du, G, Fay, PA, Frater, P, Gruner, DS, Hagenah, N, Hector, A, Helm, A, Hillebrand, H, Hofmockel, KS, Humphries, HC, Iribarne, O, Jin, VL, Kay, A, Kirkman, KP, Klein, JA, Knops, JMH, La Pierre, KJ, Ladwig, LM, Lambrinos, JG, Leakey, ADB, Li, Q, Li, W, Mcculley, R, Melbourne, B, Mitchell, CE, Moore, JL, Morgan, J, Mortensen, B, O'halloran, LR, Pärtel, M, Pascual, J, Pyke, DA, Risch, AC, Salguero-gómez, R, Sankaran, M, Schuetz, M, Simonsen, A, Smith, M, Stevens, C, Sullivan, L, Wardle, GM, Wolkovich, EM, Wragg, PD, Wright, J & Yang, L 2013, 'Predicting invasion in grassland ecosystems: is exotic dominance the real embarrassment of richness?', Global Change Biology, vol. 19, no. 12, pp. 3677-3687. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.12370

APA

Seabloom, E. W., Borer, E. T., Buckley, Y., Cleland, E. E., Davies, K., Firn, J., Harpole, W. S., Hautier, Y., Lind, E., Macdougall, A., Orrock, J. L., Prober, S. M., Adler, P., Alberti, J., Michael Anderson, T., Bakker, J. D., Biederman, L. A., Blumenthal, D., Brown, C. S., ... Yang, L. (2013). Predicting invasion in grassland ecosystems: is exotic dominance the real embarrassment of richness? Global Change Biology, 19(12), 3677-3687. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.12370

Vancouver

Seabloom EW, Borer ET, Buckley Y, Cleland EE, Davies K, Firn J et al. Predicting invasion in grassland ecosystems: is exotic dominance the real embarrassment of richness? Global Change Biology. 2013 Dec 1;19(12):3677-3687. doi: 10.1111/gcb.12370

Author

Seabloom, Eric W. ; Borer, Elizabeth T. ; Buckley, Yvonne et al. / Predicting invasion in grassland ecosystems : is exotic dominance the real embarrassment of richness?. In: Global Change Biology. 2013 ; Vol. 19, No. 12. pp. 3677-3687.

Bibtex

@article{f840ef2ffea3465f840fa86ff03ce00a,
title = "Predicting invasion in grassland ecosystems: is exotic dominance the real embarrassment of richness?",
abstract = "Invasions have increased the size of regional species pools, but are typically assumed to reduce native diversity. However, global-scale tests of this assumption have been elusive because of the focus on exotic species richness, rather than relative abundance. This is problematic because low invader richness can indicate invasion resistance by the native community or, alternatively, dominance by a single exotic species. Here, we used a globally replicated study to quantify relationships between exotic richness and abundance in grass-dominated ecosystems in 13 countries on six continents, ranging from salt marshes to alpine tundra. We tested effects of human land use, native community diversity, herbivore pressure, and nutrient limitation on exotic plant dominance. Despite its widespread use, exotic richness was a poor proxy for exotic dominance at low exotic richness, because sites that contained few exotic species ranged from relatively pristine (low exotic richness and cover) to almost completely exotic-dominated ones (low exotic richness but high exotic cover). Both exotic cover and richness were predicted by native plant diversity (native grass richness) and land use (distance to cultivation). Although climate was important for predicting both exotic cover and richness, climatic factors predicting cover (precipitation variability) differed from those predicting richness (maximum temperature and mean temperature in the wettest quarter). Herbivory and nutrient limitation did not predict exotic richness or cover. Exotic dominance was greatest in areas with low native grass richness at the site- or regional-scale. Although this could reflect native grass displacement, a lack of biotic resistance is a more likely explanation, given that grasses comprise the most aggressive invaders. These findings underscore the need to move beyond richness as a surrogate for the extent of invasion, because this metric confounds monodominance with invasion resistance. Monitoring species' relative abundance will more rapidly advance our understanding of invasions.",
author = "Seabloom, {Eric W.} and Borer, {Elizabeth T.} and Yvonne Buckley and Cleland, {Elsa E.} and Kendi Davies and Jennifer Firn and Harpole, {W. Stanley} and Yann Hautier and Eric Lind and Andrew Macdougall and Orrock, {John L.} and Prober, {Suzanne M.} and Peter Adler and Juan Alberti and {Michael Anderson}, T. and Bakker, {Jonathan D.} and Biederman, {Lori A.} and Dana Blumenthal and Brown, {Cynthia S.} and Brudvig, {Lars A.} and Maria Caldeira and Chengjin Chu and Crawley, {Michael J.} and Pedro Daleo and Damschen, {Ellen I.} and D'antonio, {Carla M.} and Decrappeo, {Nicole M.} and Dickman, {Chris R.} and Guozhen Du and Fay, {Philip A.} and Paul Frater and Gruner, {Daniel S.} and Nicole Hagenah and Andrew Hector and Aveliina Helm and Helmut Hillebrand and Hofmockel, {Kirsten S.} and Humphries, {Hope C.} and Oscar Iribarne and Jin, {Virginia L.} and Adam Kay and Kirkman, {Kevin P.} and Klein, {Julia A.} and Knops, {Johannes M. H.} and {La Pierre}, {Kimberly J.} and Ladwig, {Laura M.} and Lambrinos, {John G.} and Leakey, {Andrew D. B.} and Qi Li and Wei Li and Rebecca Mcculley and Brett Melbourne and Mitchell, {Charles E.} and Moore, {Joslin L.} and John Morgan and Brent Mortensen and O'halloran, {Lydia R.} and Meelis P{\"a}rtel and Jes{\'u}s Pascual and Pyke, {David A.} and Risch, {Anita C.} and Roberto Salguero-g{\'o}mez and Mahesh Sankaran and Martin Schuetz and Anna Simonsen and Melinda Smith and Carly Stevens and Lauren Sullivan and Wardle, {Glenda M.} and Wolkovich, {Elizabeth M.} and Wragg, {Peter D.} and Justin Wright and Louie Yang",
year = "2013",
month = dec,
day = "1",
doi = "10.1111/gcb.12370",
language = "English",
volume = "19",
pages = "3677--3687",
journal = "Global Change Biology",
issn = "1354-1013",
publisher = "Blackwell Publishing Ltd",
number = "12",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - Predicting invasion in grassland ecosystems

T2 - is exotic dominance the real embarrassment of richness?

AU - Seabloom, Eric W.

AU - Borer, Elizabeth T.

AU - Buckley, Yvonne

AU - Cleland, Elsa E.

AU - Davies, Kendi

AU - Firn, Jennifer

AU - Harpole, W. Stanley

AU - Hautier, Yann

AU - Lind, Eric

AU - Macdougall, Andrew

AU - Orrock, John L.

AU - Prober, Suzanne M.

AU - Adler, Peter

AU - Alberti, Juan

AU - Michael Anderson, T.

AU - Bakker, Jonathan D.

AU - Biederman, Lori A.

AU - Blumenthal, Dana

AU - Brown, Cynthia S.

AU - Brudvig, Lars A.

AU - Caldeira, Maria

AU - Chu, Chengjin

AU - Crawley, Michael J.

AU - Daleo, Pedro

AU - Damschen, Ellen I.

AU - D'antonio, Carla M.

AU - Decrappeo, Nicole M.

AU - Dickman, Chris R.

AU - Du, Guozhen

AU - Fay, Philip A.

AU - Frater, Paul

AU - Gruner, Daniel S.

AU - Hagenah, Nicole

AU - Hector, Andrew

AU - Helm, Aveliina

AU - Hillebrand, Helmut

AU - Hofmockel, Kirsten S.

AU - Humphries, Hope C.

AU - Iribarne, Oscar

AU - Jin, Virginia L.

AU - Kay, Adam

AU - Kirkman, Kevin P.

AU - Klein, Julia A.

AU - Knops, Johannes M. H.

AU - La Pierre, Kimberly J.

AU - Ladwig, Laura M.

AU - Lambrinos, John G.

AU - Leakey, Andrew D. B.

AU - Li, Qi

AU - Li, Wei

AU - Mcculley, Rebecca

AU - Melbourne, Brett

AU - Mitchell, Charles E.

AU - Moore, Joslin L.

AU - Morgan, John

AU - Mortensen, Brent

AU - O'halloran, Lydia R.

AU - Pärtel, Meelis

AU - Pascual, Jesús

AU - Pyke, David A.

AU - Risch, Anita C.

AU - Salguero-gómez, Roberto

AU - Sankaran, Mahesh

AU - Schuetz, Martin

AU - Simonsen, Anna

AU - Smith, Melinda

AU - Stevens, Carly

AU - Sullivan, Lauren

AU - Wardle, Glenda M.

AU - Wolkovich, Elizabeth M.

AU - Wragg, Peter D.

AU - Wright, Justin

AU - Yang, Louie

PY - 2013/12/1

Y1 - 2013/12/1

N2 - Invasions have increased the size of regional species pools, but are typically assumed to reduce native diversity. However, global-scale tests of this assumption have been elusive because of the focus on exotic species richness, rather than relative abundance. This is problematic because low invader richness can indicate invasion resistance by the native community or, alternatively, dominance by a single exotic species. Here, we used a globally replicated study to quantify relationships between exotic richness and abundance in grass-dominated ecosystems in 13 countries on six continents, ranging from salt marshes to alpine tundra. We tested effects of human land use, native community diversity, herbivore pressure, and nutrient limitation on exotic plant dominance. Despite its widespread use, exotic richness was a poor proxy for exotic dominance at low exotic richness, because sites that contained few exotic species ranged from relatively pristine (low exotic richness and cover) to almost completely exotic-dominated ones (low exotic richness but high exotic cover). Both exotic cover and richness were predicted by native plant diversity (native grass richness) and land use (distance to cultivation). Although climate was important for predicting both exotic cover and richness, climatic factors predicting cover (precipitation variability) differed from those predicting richness (maximum temperature and mean temperature in the wettest quarter). Herbivory and nutrient limitation did not predict exotic richness or cover. Exotic dominance was greatest in areas with low native grass richness at the site- or regional-scale. Although this could reflect native grass displacement, a lack of biotic resistance is a more likely explanation, given that grasses comprise the most aggressive invaders. These findings underscore the need to move beyond richness as a surrogate for the extent of invasion, because this metric confounds monodominance with invasion resistance. Monitoring species' relative abundance will more rapidly advance our understanding of invasions.

AB - Invasions have increased the size of regional species pools, but are typically assumed to reduce native diversity. However, global-scale tests of this assumption have been elusive because of the focus on exotic species richness, rather than relative abundance. This is problematic because low invader richness can indicate invasion resistance by the native community or, alternatively, dominance by a single exotic species. Here, we used a globally replicated study to quantify relationships between exotic richness and abundance in grass-dominated ecosystems in 13 countries on six continents, ranging from salt marshes to alpine tundra. We tested effects of human land use, native community diversity, herbivore pressure, and nutrient limitation on exotic plant dominance. Despite its widespread use, exotic richness was a poor proxy for exotic dominance at low exotic richness, because sites that contained few exotic species ranged from relatively pristine (low exotic richness and cover) to almost completely exotic-dominated ones (low exotic richness but high exotic cover). Both exotic cover and richness were predicted by native plant diversity (native grass richness) and land use (distance to cultivation). Although climate was important for predicting both exotic cover and richness, climatic factors predicting cover (precipitation variability) differed from those predicting richness (maximum temperature and mean temperature in the wettest quarter). Herbivory and nutrient limitation did not predict exotic richness or cover. Exotic dominance was greatest in areas with low native grass richness at the site- or regional-scale. Although this could reflect native grass displacement, a lack of biotic resistance is a more likely explanation, given that grasses comprise the most aggressive invaders. These findings underscore the need to move beyond richness as a surrogate for the extent of invasion, because this metric confounds monodominance with invasion resistance. Monitoring species' relative abundance will more rapidly advance our understanding of invasions.

U2 - 10.1111/gcb.12370

DO - 10.1111/gcb.12370

M3 - Journal article

VL - 19

SP - 3677

EP - 3687

JO - Global Change Biology

JF - Global Change Biology

SN - 1354-1013

IS - 12

ER -