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Abundance of introduced species at home predicts abundance away in herbaceous communities
Author(s) -
Firn Jennifer,
Moore Joslin L.,
MacDougall Andrew S.,
Borer Elizabeth T.,
Seabloom Eric W.,
HilleRisLambers Janneke,
Harpole W. Stanley,
Cleland Elsa E.,
Brown Cynthia S.,
Knops Johannes M. H.,
Prober Suzanne M.,
Pyke David A.,
Farrell Kelly A.,
Bakker John D.,
O’Halloran Lydia R.,
Adler Peter B.,
Collins Scott L.,
D’Antonio Carla M.,
Crawley Michael J.,
Wolkovich Elizabeth M.,
La Pierre Kimberly J.,
Melbourne Brett A.,
Hautier Yann,
Morgan John W.,
Leakey Andrew D. B.,
Kay Adam,
McCulley Rebecca,
Davies Kendi F.,
Stevens Carly J.,
Chu ChengJin,
Holl Karen D.,
Klein Julia A.,
Fay Philip A.,
Hagenah Nicole,
Kirkman Kevin P.,
Buckley Yvonne M.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
ecology letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.852
H-Index - 265
eISSN - 1461-0248
pISSN - 1461-023X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1461-0248.2010.01584.x
Subject(s) - abundance (ecology) , ecology , biodiversity , biology , ecosystem , forb , herbaceous plant , macroecology , relative abundance distribution , relative species abundance , grassland
Ecology letters (2011) 14: 274–281 Abstract Many ecosystems worldwide are dominated by introduced plant species, leading to loss of biodiversity and ecosystem function. A common but rarely tested assumption is that these plants are more abundant in introduced vs. native communities, because ecological or evolutionary‐based shifts in populations underlie invasion success. Here, data for 26 herbaceous species at 39 sites, within eight countries, revealed that species abundances were similar at native (home) and introduced (away) sites – grass species were generally abundant home and away, while forbs were low in abundance, but more abundant at home. Sites with six or more of these species had similar community abundance hierarchies, suggesting that suites of introduced species are assembling similarly on different continents. Overall, we found that substantial changes to populations are not necessarily a pre‐condition for invasion success and that increases in species abundance are unusual. Instead, abundance at home predicts abundance away, a potentially useful additional criterion for biosecurity programmes.