Long‐term trajectories of non‐native vegetation on islands globally

作者：Anna Walentowitz, Bernd Lenzner, Franz Essl, Nichola A. Strandberg, Álvaro Castilla-Beltrán, José María Fernández‐Palacios, Svante Björck, Simon Connor, Simon Haberle, Karl Ljung, Matthew Prebble, Janet M. Wilmshurst, Cynthia A. Froyd, Erik J. de Boer, Lea de Nascimento, Mary E. Edwards, Janelle Stevenson, Carl Beierkuhnlein, Manuel J. Steinbauer, Sandra Nogué · 发表于：Ecology Letters · 年份：2023 · DOI：10.1111/ele.14196 · 被引用次数：15 · 研究领域：Pacific and Southeast Asian Studies、Isotope Analysis in Ecology、Geology and Paleoclimatology Research

Human-mediated changes in island vegetation are, among others, largely caused by the introduction and establishment of non-native species. However, data on past changes in non-native plant species abundance that predate historical documentation and censuses are scarce. Islands are among the few places where we can track human arrival in natural systems allowing us to reveal changes in vegetation dynamics with the arrival of non-native species. We matched fossil pollen data with botanical status information (native, non-native), and quantified the timing, trajectories and magnitude of non-native plant vegetational change on 29 islands over the past 5000 years. We recorded a proportional increase in pollen of non-native plant taxa within the last 1000 years. Individual island trajectories are context-dependent and linked to island settlement histories. Our data show that non-native plant introductions have a longer and more dynamic history than is generally recognized, with critical implications for biodiversity baselines and invasion biology.