Open AccessAlien plant invasions in European woodlands
Author(s) -
Wagner Viktoria,
Chytrý Milan,
JiménezAlfaro Borja,
Pergl Jan,
Hennekens Stephan,
Biurrun Idoia,
Knollová Ilona,
Berg Christian,
Vassilev Kiril,
Rodwell John S.,
Škvorc Željko,
Jandt Ute,
Ewald Jörg,
Jansen Florian,
Tsiripidis Ioannis,
BottaDukát Zoltán,
Casella Laura,
Attorre Fabio,
Rašomavičius Valerijus,
Ćušterevska Renata,
Schaminée Joop H. J.,
Brunet Jörg,
Lenoir Jonathan,
Svenning JensChristian,
Kącki Zygmunt,
PetrášováŠibíková Mária,
Šilc Urban,
GarcíaMijangos Itziar,
Campos Juan Antonio,
FernándezGonzález Federico,
Wohlgemuth Thomas,
Onyshchenko Viktor,
Pyšek Petr
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
diversity and distributions
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.918
H-Index - 118
eISSN - 1472-4642
pISSN - 1366-9516
DOI - 10.1111/ddi.12592
Subject(s) - woodland , alien , species richness , ecology , geography , boreal , introduced species , riparian zone , vegetation (pathology) , habitat , temperate climate , invasive species , biology , population , medicine , demography , pathology , sociology , census
Abstract Aim Woodlands make up a third of European territory and carry out important ecosystem functions, yet a comprehensive overview of their invasion by alien plants has never been undertaken across this continent. Location Europe. Methods We extracted data from 251,740 vegetation plots stored in the recently compiled European Vegetation Archive. After filtering (resulting in 83,396 plots; 39 regions; 1970–2015 time period), we analysed the species pool and frequency of alien vascular plants with respect to geographic origin and life‐forms, and the levels of invasion across the European Nature Information System ( EUNIS ) woodland habitats. Results We found a total of 386 alien plant species (comprising 7% of all recorded vascular plants). Aliens originating from outside of and from within Europe were almost equally represented in the species pool (192 vs. 181 species) but relative frequency was skewed towards the former group (77% vs. 22%) due, to some extent, to the frequent occurrence of Impatiens parviflora (21% frequency among alien plants). Phanerophytes were the most species‐rich life‐form (148 species) and had the highest representation in terms of relative frequency (39%) among aliens in the dataset. Apart from Europe (181 species), North America was the most important source of alien plants (109 species). At the local scale, temperate and boreal softwood riparian woodland (5%) and mire and mountain coniferous woodland (<1%) had the highest and lowest mean relative alien species richness (percentage of alien species per plot), respectively. Main conclusions Our results indicate that European woodlands are prone to alien plant invasions especially when exposed to disturbance, fragmentation, alien propagule pressure and high soil nutrient levels. Given the persistence of these factors in the landscape, competitive alien plant species with a broad niche, including alien trees and shrubs, are likely to persist and spread further into European woodlands.