Open AccessSpecies richness and phylogenetic diversity of native and non‐native species respond differently to area and environmental factors
Author(s) -
Li Daijiang,
Monahan William B.,
Baiser Benjamin
Publication year - 2018
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.12731
Subject(s) - species richness , phylogenetic diversity , introduced species , native plant , ecology , invasive species , biodiversity , species diversity , diversity (politics) , biology , geography , phylogenetic tree , biochemistry , sociology , anthropology , gene
Aim To test whether native and non‐native species have similar diversity–area relationships (species–area relationships [ SAR s] and phylogenetic diversity–area relationships [ PDAR s]) and whether they respond similarly to environmental variables. Location United States. Methods Using lists of native and non‐native species as well as environmental variables for >250 US national parks, we compared SAR s and PDAR s of native and non‐native species to test whether they respond similarly to environmental conditions. We then used multiple regressions involving climate, land cover and anthropogenic variables to further explore underlying predictors of diversity for plants and birds in US national parks. Results Native and non‐native species had different slopes for SAR s and PDAR s, with significantly higher slopes for native species. Corroborating this pattern, multiple regressions showed that native and non‐native diversity of plants and birds responded differently to a greater number of environmental variables than expected by chance. For native species richness, park area and longitude were the most important variables while the number of park visitors, temperature and the percentage of natural area were among the most important ones for non‐native species richness. Interestingly, the most important predictor of native and non‐native plant phylogenetic diversity, temperature, had positive effects on non‐native plants but negative effects on natives. Main conclusions SAR s, PDAR s and multiple regressions all suggest that native and non‐native plants and birds responded differently to environmental factors that influence their diversity. The agreement between diversity–area relationships and multiple regressions with environmental variables suggests that SAR s and PDAR s can be both used as quick proxies of overall responses of species to environmental conditions. However, more importantly, our results suggest that global change will have different effects on native and non‐native species, making it inappropriate to apply the large body of knowledge on native species to understand patterns of community assembly of non‐native species.