A unified approach for quantifying invasibility and degree of invasion.

Habitat invasibility is a central focus of invasion biology, with implications for basic ecological patterns and processes and for effective invasion management. "Invasibility" is, however, one of the most elusive metrics and misused terms in ecology. Empirical studies and meta-analyses of invasibility have produced inconsistent and even conflicting results. This lack of consistency, and subsequent difficulty in making broad cross-habitat comparisons, stem in part from (1) the indiscriminant use of a closely related, but fundamentally different concept, that of degree of invasion (DI) or level of invasion; and (2) the lack of common invasibility metrics, as illustrated by our review of all invasibility-related papers published in 2013. To facilitate both cross-habitat comparison and more robust ecological generalizations, we clarify the definitions of invasibility and DI, and for the first time propose a common metric for quantifying invasibility based on a habitat's resource availability as inferred from relative resident species richness and biomass. We demonstrate the feasibility of our metric using empirical data collected from 2475 plots from three forest ecosystems in the eastern United States. We also propose a similar metric for DI. Our unified, resource-based metrics are scaled from 0 to 1, facilitating cross-habitat comparisons. Our proposed metrics clearly distinguish invasibility and DI from each other, which will help to (1) advance invasion ecology by allowing more robust testing of generalizations and (2) facilitate more effective invasive species control and management.

Modeling the impacts of life-history traits, canopy gaps, and establishment location on woodland shrub invasions.

We used an individual-based model to identify how localized patterns of woodland invasions by exotic shrubs are likely influenced by (1) observed variation in age at first reproduction and fecundity, (2) hypothesized effects of canopy gaps on these life-history traits and dispersal, and (3) initial establishment location. Rates of spread accelerated nearly twofold as age at first reproduction decreased from eight to three years or fecundity increased from 3 to 20 offspring per year, illustrating the need to better understand the factors that influence these life-history traits. Canopy gaps facilitated spread by influencing these life-history traits, but not through their effects on dispersal. Invasions starting at the woodland center spread more rapidly than do those starting along the woodland edge. These findings suggest that managers should not only prioritize the removal of shrubs that reproduce the earliest or produce the most offspring, but they should also focus on the invasions in woodlands with high canopy openness and/or that are located in woodland interiors. Investigated factors also affected other invasion characteristics, often in surprising ways. For example, those changes in age at first reproduction and fecundity that increased the rate of spread produced nonparallel patterns of change in the proportions of invasion reproducing, whether or not invasions exhibited clumped or scattered spatial arrangements, and invasional lag. Additionally, canopy gaps influenced these characteristics by increasing fecundity, but not by decreasing age at first reproduction or altering dispersal, suggesting that canopy gaps affect local patterns of exotic-shrub invasions primarily through their positive effects on fruit production.

Stormwater ponds: An overlooked but plentiful urban designer ecosystem provides invasive plant habitat in a subtropical region (Florida, USA).

Designed ecosystems are built as part of ongoing urban expansion, providing a suite of valued ecosystem services. However, these new ecosystems could also promote disservices by facilitating the colonization and spread of invasive species. We conduct the first assessment of the quantity and invasion of an overlooked designed ecosystem: stormwater ponds. These ponds are commonly recommended for managing urban hydrology, but little is known about their ecology or extent of proliferation. Using a broad-scale survey of pond coverage in Florida, USA, we found that over 76,000 stormwater ponds have been built just in this state, forming 2.7% of total urban land cover. This extensive pondscape of manufactured habitats could facilitate species spread throughout urban areas and into nearby natural waterbodies. We also conducted a survey of the severity of plant invasion in 30 ponds in Gainesville, FL, US across two pond types (dry vs. wet), and a gradient of management intensities (low, medium, high) and pond ages. We unexpectedly found a high number of invasive plant species (28 in just 30 ponds). Ninety-six percent of surveyed ponds contained from one to ten of these species, with ponds exhibiting high turnover in invader composition (i.e., high beta diversity). The bank sections of dry unmanaged ponds exhibited the highest mean invasive species richness (5.8 ± 1.3) and the inundated centers of wet medium managed ponds exhibited the highest mean invasive species cover (34 ± 12%). Invasive plant richness and cover also tended to be greater in dry ponds with higher soil nutrient levels, and in older wet ponds. Therefore, we found that highly maintained and younger wet ponds were the least invaded. Nevertheless, common management practices that limit plant invasions may also limit native species establishment and invasion may increase in the decades following pond construction.

Predicting invasiveness of exotic woody species using a traits-based framework.

Identifying potentially invasive species and preventing their introduction and establishment are of critical importance in invasion ecology and land management. Although an extensive body of research has been dedicated to identifying traits that confer invasiveness, our current knowledge is still often inconclusive due to limitations in geographic extent and/or scope of traits analyzed. Here, using a comprehensive set of 45 traits, we performed a case study of invasive traits displayed by exotic woody plants in the United States (U.S.) by comparing 63 invasive and 794 non-invasive exotic woody plant species naturalized across the country. We found that invasive woody species often bear the following two key traits: vegetative reproduction and long-distance seed dispersal (via water, birds or mammals). Boosted classification tree models based on these traits accurately predicted species invasiveness (86% accuracy on average). Presented findings provide a generalized understanding of the relative importance of functional traits in identifying potentially invasive woody species in the U.S. The knowledge generated in this study can be used to improve current classification systems of non-native woody plants used by various U.S. governmental agencies and land managers.