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The unseen invaders: introduced earthworms as drivers of change in plant communities in North American forests (a meta‐analysis)
Author(s) -
Craven Dylan,
Thakur Madhav P.,
Cameron Erin K.,
Frelich Lee E.,
Beauséjour Robin,
Blair Robert B.,
Blossey Bernd,
Burtis James,
Choi Amy,
Dávalos Andrea,
Fahey Timothy J.,
Fisichelli Nicholas A.,
Gibson Kevin,
Handa I. Tanya,
Hopfensperger Kristine,
Loss Scott R.,
Nuzzo Victoria,
Maerz John C.,
Sackett Tara,
Scharenbroch Bryant C.,
Smith Sandy M.,
Vellend Mark,
Umek Lauren G.,
Eisenhauer Nico
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
global change biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.146
H-Index - 255
eISSN - 1365-2486
pISSN - 1354-1013
DOI - 10.1111/gcb.13446
Subject(s) - species richness , earthworm , species evenness , native plant , ecology , plant community , biodiversity , biology , ecosystem , introduced species , biomass (ecology) , ecosystem engineer , abiotic component , species diversity , alpine plant , plant ecology
Globally, biological invasions can have strong impacts on biodiversity as well as ecosystem functioning. While less conspicuous than introduced aboveground organisms, introduced belowground organisms may have similarly strong effects. Here, we synthesize for the first time the impacts of introduced earthworms on plant diversity and community composition in North American forests. We conducted a meta‐analysis using a total of 645 observations to quantify mean effect sizes of associations between introduced earthworm communities and plant diversity, cover of plant functional groups, and cover of native and non‐native plants. We found that plant diversity significantly declined with increasing richness of introduced earthworm ecological groups. While plant species richness or evenness did not change with earthworm invasion, our results indicate clear changes in plant community composition: cover of graminoids and non‐native plant species significantly increased, and cover of native plant species (of all functional groups) tended to decrease, with increasing earthworm biomass. Overall, these findings support the hypothesis that introduced earthworms facilitate particular plant species adapted to the abiotic conditions of earthworm‐invaded forests. Further, our study provides evidence that introduced earthworms are associated with declines in plant diversity in North American forests. Changing plant functional composition in these forests may have long‐lasting effects on ecosystem functioning.