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The perfect storm: Weed invasion and intense storms in tropical forests
Author(s) -
Murphy Helen T.,
Metcalfe Daniel J.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
austral ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.688
H-Index - 87
eISSN - 1442-9993
pISSN - 1442-9985
DOI - 10.1111/aec.12376
Subject(s) - ecology , liana , storm , biological dispersal , propagule , dominance (genetics) , invasive species , seed dispersal , geography , climate change , environmental science , biology , population , biochemistry , demography , sociology , meteorology , gene
Climate change scientists predict an increased intensity of storms (cyclones, hurricanes and typhoons) in the future. Intense storms facilitate plant invasion by increasing resource availability, reducing competition and increasing opportunities for propagule dispersal. We document here the state of current understanding about the response of invasive plant species to intense storms and suggest that the structure and function of forests in storm‐prone regions may be much altered in the future as a result of weed invasion. Intense storms provide a large spatial and temporal window of opportunity for invasion and empirical research demonstrates growth and recruitment rates of invasive species increase following such events, and they spread readily. In particular, lianas and woody invasive species that are shade tolerant and recruit from the seedling layer may constitute the greatest threat to tropical forests following storm events. Forests persisting in fragmented landscapes will be exposed to some of the most severe consequences of intense storms and subsequent weed invasion. In storm‐prone regions, forests of the future are likely to experience a decrease in diversity of native species and homogenization of communities at landscape and regional scales, slower rates of forest succession, increasing degradation of forest fragments and ultimately a decrease in ecosystem function.