Alien flora across European coastal dunes

Questions The spread of alien plant species is one of the main threats to the biodiversity of different natural habitats, and coastal dune habitats are among the most affected. There is a considerable local and regional variation in the level of alien plant invasion on coastal dunes. We asked what a...

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Published in:Applied vegetation science Vol. 23; no. 3; pp. 317 - 327
Main Authors: Giulio, Silvia, Acosta, Alicia Teresa Rosario, Carboni, Marta, Campos, Juan Antonio, Chytrý, Milan, Loidi, Javier, Pergl, Jan, Pyšek, Petr, Isermann, Maike, Janssen, John A. M., Rodwell, John S., Schaminée, Joop H. J., Marcenò, Corrado, Kühn, Ingolf
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Malden Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.07.2020
Subjects:
alien flora
Archives & records
Atlantic
Baltic
Biodiversity
Black Sea
coastal dune habitats
Coastal ecology
Coastal zone
coasts
Composition
Conyza canadensis
Dunes
ecological invasion
Europe
Flora
Geographical distribution
Grasslands
Habitats
Herbivores
introduced plants
Invasive species
Mediterranean
Mediterranean region
neophyte
non‐native
North America
Oenothera biennis
plant invasion
Plant species
Species composition
species diversity
Vegetation
vegetation‐plot data
Xanthium strumarium var. canadense
Black Sea
Europe
Mediterranean region
North America
ISSN:1402-2001, 1654-109X
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Summary:Questions The spread of alien plant species is one of the main threats to the biodiversity of different natural habitats, and coastal dune habitats are among the most affected. There is a considerable local and regional variation in the level of alien plant invasion on coastal dunes. We asked what are the patterns of invasion across European coastal dunes and how they depend on habitat types and coastal regions. Location Atlantic, Baltic, Black Sea and Mediterranean coasts of Europe. Methods We used vegetation‐plot records from shifting dunes and stable dune grasslands extracted from the European Vegetation Archive (EVA). We quantified richness, frequency and distribution of alien plant (neophyte) species across dune habitats and coastal regions. We also explored the donor habitats and invasion trajectories of these species. Results In the flora of European coastal dunes, 7% of species were neophytes, for two‐thirds originating from outside of Europe and mostly naturalised and ruderal. Shifting and stable dunes were similar in neophyte species composition, but there were more individual occurrences of neophytes in shifting dunes. The neophyte flora composition differed considerably between the Atlantic, Baltic, Black Sea and Mediterranean regions. The highest number of neophyte species was observed on the Atlantic dunes, while the highest number of neophyte occurrences was on the Black Sea dunes. Most of the neophytes originated from North America and the Mediterranean‐Turanian region. Erigeron canadensis, Xanthium orientale, Oenothera biennis and Oenothera oakesiana were the most common neophytes. Conclusions We provided a comprehensive assessment of alien plant invasions in the coastal dunes across Europe and highlighted that coastal dunes should be in the focus of European invasion management strategies. Using vegetation‐plot records from the EVA, we quantified the level of invasion on European shifting and stable dunes, highlighting differences in invasion patterns across regions. Neophytes comprised 7% of the total dune flora, and two‐thirds of these originated outside of Europe. Atlantic dunes were the main recipients of neophytes, while the Mediterranean Basin was also an important donor.
Bibliography:Funding information
subsection
314–337, law 232/2016), MCar by a Rita Levi Montalcini Grant, MIUR Italy, JAC, JL and CorMar were funded by the Basque Government (IT936‐16), MCh and CorMar by grant no. 19‐28491X of the Czech Science Foundation, and JP and PP by grant no. 19‐28807X of the Czech Science Foundation and long‐term research development project RVO 67985939 (The Czech Academy of Sciences).
ATRA was supported by the Grant of Excellence Departments, MIUR Italy (article 1
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ISSN:1402-2001
1654-109X
DOI:10.1111/avsc.12490