Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Quantifying the landscape influence on plant invasions in Mediterranean coastal habitats

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Landscape Ecology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Landscape pattern might be an important determinant of non-native plant invasions because it encompasses components influencing the availability of non-native plant propagules and disturbance regimes. We aimed at exploring the relative role of patch and landscape characteristics, compared to those of habitat type and regional human influence on non-native plant species richness. For this purpose, we identified all non-native plant species in 295 patches of four coastal habitat types across three administrative regions in NE Spain differing in the degree of human influence. For each patch, we calculated several variables reflecting habitat patch geometry (size and shape), landscape composition (distribution of land-cover categories) and landscape configuration (arrangement of patches). The last two groups of variables were calculated at five different spatial extents. Landscape composition was by far the most important group of variables associated with non-native species richness. Natural areas close to diverse and urban landscapes had a high number of non-native species while surrounding agricultural areas could buffer this effect. Regional human influence was also strongly associated with non-native species richness while habitat type was the least important factor. Differences in sensitivity of landscape variables across spatial extents proved relevant, with 100 m being the most influential extent for most variables. These results suggest that landscape characteristics should be considered for performing explicit spatial risk analyses of plant invasions. Consequently, the management of invaded habitats should focus not only at the stand scale but also at the highly influential neighbouring landscape. Prior to incorporate landscape characteristics into management decisions, sensitivity analyses should be taken into account to avoid inconsistent variables.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Atwood JP, Meyerson LA (2011) Island biogeography extends to small-scale habitats: low competitor density and richness on islands may drive trait variation in nonnative plants. Biol Invasions 13:2035–2043

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Augustin NH, Mugglestone MA, Buckland ST (1996) An autologistic model for the spatial distribution of wildlife. J Appl Ecol 33:339–347

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bailey D, Billeter R, Aviron S, Schweiger O, Herzog F (2007) The influence of thematic resolution on metric selection for biodiversity monitoring in agricultural landscapes. Landscape Ecol 22:461–473

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baldwin DJB, Weaver K, Schnekenburger F, Perera AH (2004) Sensitivity of landscape pattern indices to input data characteristics on real landscapes: implications for their use in natural disturbance emulation. Landscape Ecol 19:255–271

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bartuszevige AM, Gorchov DL, Raab L (2006) The relative importance of landscape and community features in the invasion of an exotic shrub in a fragmented landscape. Ecography 29:213–222

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bolós O, Vigo J, Masalles RM, Ninot JM (1993) Flora Manual dels Països Catalans, 2nd edn. Pòrtic, Barcelona, Spain

    Google Scholar 

  • Burnham KP, Anderson DR (2002) Model selection and multimodel inference: a practical information-theoretic approach, 2nd edn. Springer, New York, USA

    Google Scholar 

  • Burnham KP, Anderson DR (2004) Multimodel inference: understanding AIC and BIC in model selection. Sociol Methods Res 33:261–304

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cadenasso ML, Pickett STA (2001) Effect of edge structure on the flux of species into forest interiors. Conserv Biol 15:91–97

    Google Scholar 

  • Campos JA, Herrera M, Biurrun I, Loidi J (2004) The role of alien plants in the natural coastal vegetation in central-northern Spain. Biodivers Conserv 13:2275–2293

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carrete M, Grande JM, Tella JL, Sánchez-Zapata JA, Donázar JA, Díaz-Delgado R, Romo A (2007) Habitat, human pressure, and social behavior: partialling out factors affecting large-scale territory extinction in an endangered vulture. Biol Conserv 136:143–154

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Catford JA, Vesk PA, White MD, Wintle BA (2011) Hotspots of plant invasion predicted by propagule pressure and ecosystem characteristics. Divers Distrib 17:1099–1110

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chytrý M, Jarošík V, Pyšek P, Hájek O, Knollová I, Tichý L, Danihelka J (2008a) Separating habitat invasibility by alien plants from the actual level of invasion. Ecology 89:1541–1553

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Chytrý M, Maskell LC, Pino J, Pyšek P, Vilà M, Font X, Smart SM (2008b) Habitat invasions by alien plants: a quantitative comparison among Mediterranean, subcontinental and oceanic regions of Europe. J Appl Ecol 45:448–458

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chytrý M, Pyšek P, Wild J, Pino J, Maskell LC, Vilà M (2009) European map of alien plant invasions based on the quantitative assessment across habitats. Divers Distrib 15:98–107

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cully AC, Cully JF, Hiebert RD (2003) Invasion of exotic plant species in tallgrass prairie fragments. Conserv Biol 17:990–998

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Deutschewitz K, Lausch A, Kühn I, Klotz S (2003) Native and alien plant species richness in relation to spatial heterogeneity on a regional scale in Germany. Global Ecol Biogeogr 12:299–311

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dormann C, McPherson JM, Araújo MB, Bivand R, Bolliger J, Carl G, Davies RG, Hirzel A, Jetz W, Daniel Kissling W, Kühn I, Ohlemüller R, Peres-Neto PR, Reineking B, Schröder B, Schurr MF, Wilson R (2007) Methods to account for spatial autocorrelation in the analysis of species distributional data: a review. Ecography 30:609–628

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Elton C (1958) The ecology of invasions by animals and plants. Chapman & Hall, London, UK

    Google Scholar 

  • Gassó N, Sol D, Pino J, Dana ED, Lloret F, Sanz-Elorza M, Sobrino E, Vilà M (2009) Exploring species attributes and site characteristics to assess plant invasions in Spain. Divers Distrib 15:50–58

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gassó N, Pino J, Font X, Vilà M (2012) Regional context affects native and alien plant species richness across habitat types. App Veg Sci 15:4–13

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gavier-Pizarro GI, Radeloff VC, Stewart SI, Huebner CD, Keuler NS (2010) Housing is positively associated with invasive exotic plant species richness in New England, USA. Ecol Appl 20:1913–1925

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gelman A, Hill J (2007) Data analysis using regression and multilevel/hierarchical models, 1st edn. Cambridge University Press, New York, USA

    Google Scholar 

  • Grueber CE, Nakagawa S, Laws RJ, Jamieson IG (2011) Multimodel inference in ecology and evolution: challenges and solutions. J Evol Biol 24:699–711

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Guirado M, Pino J, Roda F (2006) Understorey plant species richness and composition in metropolitan forest archipelagos: effects of forest size, adjacent land use and distance to the edge. Global Ecol Biogeogr 15:50–62

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hijmans RJ, Cameron SE, Parra JL, Jones PG, Jarvis A (2005) Very high resolution interpolated climate surfaces for global land areas. Int J Climatol 25:1965–1978

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hulme PE (2006) Beyond control: wider implications for the management of biological invasions. J Appl Ecol 43:835–847

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ibáñez I, Silander JA Jr, Allen JM, Treanor SA, Wilson A (2009) Identifying hotspots for plant invasions and forecasting focal points of further spread. J Appl Ecol 46:1219–1228

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Khadari B, Grout C, Santoni S, Kjellberg F (2005) Contrasted genetic diversity and differentiation among Mediterranean populations of Ficus carica L.: a study using mtDNA RFLP. Genet Resour Crop Evol 52:97–109

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kueffer C, Daehler CC, Torres-Santana CW, Lavergne C, Meyer JY, Otto R, Silva L (2010) A global comparison of plant invasions on oceanic islands. Perspect Plant Ecol 12:145–161

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kumar S, Stohlgren TJ, Chong GW (2006) Spatial heterogeneity influences native and nonnative plant species richness. Ecology 87:3186–3199

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lonsdale WM (1999) Global patterns of plant invasions and the concept of invasibility. Ecology 80:1522–1536

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marini L, Gaston KJ, Prosser F, Hulme PE (2009) Contrasting response of native and alien plant species richness to environmental energy and human impact along alpine elevation gradients. Global Ecol Biogeogr 18:652–661

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McDonald RI, Urban DL (2006) Edge effects on species composition and exotic species abundance in the North Carolina Piedmont. Biol Invasions 8:1049–1060

    Google Scholar 

  • McGarigal K, Neel MC, Ene E (2002) FRAGSTATS 3.3: spatial pattern analysis program for categorical maps. Computer software program. University of Massachusetts Amherst

  • Milbau A, Stout JC, Graae BJ, Nijs I (2009) A hierarchical framework for integrating invasibility experiments incorporating different factors and spatial scales. Biol Invasions 11:941–950

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mood AM (1969) Macro-analysis of the American educational system. Oper Res 17:770–784

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ohlemüller R, Walker S, Bastow Wilson J (2006) Local vs regional factors as determinants of the invasibility of indigenous forest fragments by alien plant species. Oikos 112:493–501

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pauchard A, Shea K (2006) Integrating the study of non-native plant invasions across spatial scales. Biol Invasions 8:399–413

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pearson RG, Dawson TP, Liu C (2004) Modelling species distributions in Britain: a hierarchical integration of climate and land-cover data. Ecography 27:285–298

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pino J, Font X, Carbó J, Jové M, Pallarès L (2005) Large-scale correlates of alien plant invasion in Catalonia (NE of Spain). Biol Conserv 122:339–350

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pyšek P, Richardson DM (2006) The biogeography of naturalization in alien plants. J Biogeogr 33:2040–2050

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pyšek P, Jarošík V, Hulme PE, Kühn I, Wild J, Arianoutsou M, Bacher S, Chiron F, Didžiulis V, Essl F, Genovesi P, Gherardi F, Hejda M, Kark S, Lambdon PW, Desprez-Loustau M-L, Nentwig W, Pergl J, Poboljšaj K, Rabitsch W, Roques A, Roy DB, Shirley S, Solarz W, Vilà M, Winter M (2010) Disentangling the role of environmental and human pressures on biological invasions across Europe. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 107(27):12157–12162

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • R Development Core Team (2009) R: a language and environment for statistical computing, version 2.9.2. Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria

  • Simberloff D (2009) The role of propagule pressure in biological invasions. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 40:81–102

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sobrino E, Sanz-Elorza M, Dana ED, González-Moreno A (2009) Invasibility of a coastal strip in NE Spain by alien plants. J Veg Sci 13:585–594

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Steffan-Dewenter I, Münzenberg U, Tscharntke T (2001) Pollination, seed set and seed predation on a landscape scale. Proc R Soc Lond B 268:1685–1690

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sullivan JJ, Timmins SM, Williams PA (2005) Movement of exotic plants into coastal native forests from gardens in northern New Zealand. New Zeal J Ecol 29:1–10

    Google Scholar 

  • Teo DHL, Tan HTW, Corlett RT, Wong CM, Lum SKY (2003) Continental rain forest fragments in Singapore resist invasion by exotic plants. J Biogeogr 30:305–310

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thuiller W, Slingsby JA, Privett SDJ, Cowling RM (2007) Stochastic species turnover and stable coexistence in a species-rich, fire-prone plant community. PLoS One 2:e938

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Vilà M, Ibáñez I (2011) Plant invasions in the landscape. Landscape Ecol 26:461–472

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vilà M, Williamson M, Lonsdale M (2004) Competition experiments on alien weeds with crops: lessons for measuring plant invasion impact? Biol Invasions 6:59–69

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vilà M, Pino J, Font X (2007) Regional assessment of plant invasions across different habitat types. J Veg Sci 18:35–42

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vilà M, Pino J, Montero A, Font X (2010) Are island plant communities more invaded than their mainland counterparts? J Veg Sci 21:438–446

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Westfall PH (1997) Multiple testing of general contrasts using logical constraints and correlations. J Am Stat Assoc 92:299–306

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yiming L, Zhengjun W, Duncan RP (2006) Why islands are easier to invade: human influences on bullfrog invasion in the Zhoushan archipelago and neighboring mainland China. Oecologia 148:129–136

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We thank comments from two anonymous referees to a previous version of this manuscript. Research was funded by the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación projects Consolider-Ingenio MONTES (CSD2008-00040), RIXFUTUR (CGL2009-7515) and the Junta de Andalucía project RNM-4031.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Estación Biológica de Doñana, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (EBD-CSIC), Av. Américo Vespucio S/N, Isla de la Cartuja, 41092, Sevilla, Spain

    Pablo González-Moreno & Montserrat Vilà

  2. Centre for Ecological Research and Forestry Applications (CREAF), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193, Bellaterra, Catalonia, Spain

    Joan Pino & Corina Basnou

  3. Observatori Socioambiental de Menorca (OBSAM-IME), Camí des Castell 28, 07702, Maó, Spain

    David Carreras & Iván Fernández-Rebollar

Authors
  1. Pablo González-Moreno
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Joan Pino
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. David Carreras
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Corina Basnou
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Iván Fernández-Rebollar
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Montserrat Vilà
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Pablo González-Moreno.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary material 1 (DOC 114 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

González-Moreno, P., Pino, J., Carreras, D. et al. Quantifying the landscape influence on plant invasions in Mediterranean coastal habitats. Landscape Ecol 28, 891–903 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-013-9857-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-013-9857-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation