Niche Dynamics of Alien Plant Species in Mediterranean Europe

作者：Luigi Cao Pinna, Laure Gallien, Tommaso Jucker, Milan Chytrý, Greta La Bella, Alicia Teresa Rosario Acosta, Marta Carboni · 发表于：Global Change Biology · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1111/gcb.70379 · 被引用次数：7 · 研究领域：Mediterranean and Iberian flora and fauna、Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies、Botany and Plant Ecology Studies

Humans have spread plants globally for millennia, inadvertently causing ecological disruptions. Apart from their negative effects, biological invasions provide a unique opportunity to study how species modify their niche when confronted with novel environments. Focusing on the Mediterranean Basin, we assessed (1) which traits influence niche dynamics, and (2) whether niche conservatism or niche shift promotes invasion success. We selected the 80 most widespread alien vascular plant species in Mediterranean Europe and compiled data on their distributions in their native and invaded ranges. We then tested how a species' residence time, biogeographic origin, dispersal ability, functional traits, and intraspecific trait variability (ITV) influence its niche dynamics following invasion. Using already published independent data, we finally assessed whether niche dynamics can explain different dimensions of invasion success (quantified as regional spread or local abundance). We found that niche shifts were common (71% of species) and were mostly driven by species failing to occupy all suitable environments in their invaded range (unfilling), regardless of residence time. Niche unfilling and niche expansion were more important in species with high intraspecific trait variability introduced from non-Mediterranean biomes (temperate or tropical). Niche expansion was also greater in species with long-distance dispersal, a narrow native niche, and bigger seeds. Interestingly, invasion suc...