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ARS Home » Plains Area » Temple, Texas » Grassland Soil and Water Research Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #262306
Title: Abundance of introduced species at home predicts abundance away in herbaceous grasslands

Author
item FIRN, JENNIFER - Commonwealth Scientific And Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO)
item MOORE, JOSLIN - University Of Melbourne
item MACDOUGALL, ANDREW - University Of Guelph
item BORER, ELIZABETH - University Of Minnesota
item SEABLOOM, ERIC - University Of Minnesota
item HILLERISLAMBERS, JANNEKE - University Of Washington
item HARPOLE, W - Iowa State University
item CLELAND, ELSA - University Of California
item BROWN, CYNTHIA - Colorado State University
item KNOPS, JOHANNES - University Of Nebraska
item PROBER, SUZANNE - Commonwealth Scientific And Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO)
item PYKE, DAVID - Us Geological Survey (USGS)
item FARRELL, KELLY - Oregon State University
item BAKKER, JOHN - University Of Washington
item O'HALLORAN, LYDIA - University Of Minnesota
item ADLER, PETER - Utah State University
item COLLINS, SCOTT - University Of New Mexico
item D'ANTONIO, CARLA - University Of California
item CRAWLEY, MICHAEL - Imperial College
item WOLKOVICH, ELIZABETH - National Center For Ecological Analysis And Synthesis (NCEAS)
item LA PIERRE, KIMBERLY - Yale University
item MELBOURNE, BRETT - University Of Colorado
item HAUTIER, YANN - University Of Zurich
item MORGAN, JOHN - La Trobe University
item LEAKEY, ANDREW - University Of Illinois
item KAY, ADAM - University Of St Thomas
item MCCULLEY, REBECCA - University Of Kentucky
item DAVIES, KENDI - University Of Colorado
item STEVENS, CARLY - The Open University
item CHU, CHENG-JIN - Lanzhou University
item HOLL, KAREN - University Of California
item KLEIN, JULIA - Colorado State University
item Fay, Philip
item HAGENAH, NICOLE - Yale University
item KIRKMAN, KEVIN - Zwazulu-Natal University
item BUCKLEY, YVONNE - University Of Queensland

Submitted to: Ecology Letters
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/20/2010
Publication Date: 2/18/2011
Citation: Firn, J., Moore, J.L., MacDougall, A.S., Borer, E.T., Seabloom, E.W., Hillerislambers, J., Harpole, W.S., Cleland, E.E., Brown, C.S., Knops, J.M., Prober, S.M., Pyke, D.A., Farrell, K.A., Bakker, J.D., O'Halloran, L.R., Adler, P.B., Collins, S.L., D'Antonio, C.M., Crawley, M.J., Wolkovich, E.M., La Pierre, K.J., Melbourne, B.A., Hautier, Y., Morgan, J.W., Leakey, A.D., Kay, A., McCulley, R., Davies, K., Stevens, C.J., Chu, C., Holl, K.D., Klein, J.A., Fay, P.A., Hagenah, N., Kirkman, K.P., Buckley, Y.M. 2011. Abundance of introduced species at home predicts abundance away in herbaceous grasslands. Ecology Letters. 14:274-281.

Interpretive Summary: This manuscript compares the abundance of invasive plant species in their native ranges versus in their introduced ranges. A widely held assumption is that invasive plant species are more abundant where they have invaded, compared to their abundance in their native ranges, because of several reasons including release from native natural enemies and competitive interactions with native community members. This assumption was tested using a unique world wide dataset on species composition in grassland, which included 39 temperate grasslands in eight countries whose plant communities were sampled using identical methods. The analysis did not support the common assumption. Invasive plant species abundance was generally similar in its native and introduced ranges, and in fact the two were correlated. This result increases our understanding of global change impacts on grasslands by suggesting that not all introduced species will expand to large areas in their introduced ranges. This fact will be important in designing improved biosecurity programs.

Technical 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 versus native communities, because ecological or evolutionary based shifts in populations underlie invasion success. Here data for 26 herbaceous species in 39 temperate grasslands, 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 suites of introduced species are assembling similarly on different continents. Overall, we found 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 measure for biosecurity programs.