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Using Life Strategies to Explore the Vulnerability of Ecosystem Services to Invasion by Alien Plants

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Abstract

Invasive plants can have different effects on ecosystem functioning and on the provision of ecosystem services, with the direction and magnitude of such effects depending on the service and ecosystem being considered, but also on the life strategies of the invaders. Strategies can influence invasiveness, but also key processes of host ecosystems. To address the combined effects of these various factors, we developed a methodological framework to identify areas of possible conflict between ecosystem services and alien invasive plants, considering interactions between landscape invasibility and species invasiveness. Our framework combines multi-model inference, efficient techniques to map ecosystem services, and life strategies. The latter provides a functional link between invasion, functional changes, and potential provision of services by invaded ecosystems. The framework was applied to a region in Portugal, for which we could successfully predict current patterns of plant invasion, of ecosystem service provision, and of potential conflict between alien species richness and the potential provision of selected services. Potential conflicts were identified for all combinations of plant strategy and ecosystem service, with an emphasis on carbon sequestration, water regulation, and wood production. Lower levels of conflict were obtained between invasive plant strategies and the habitat for biodiversity supporting service. The value of the proposed framework for landscape management and planning is discussed with emphasis on anticipation of conflicts, mitigation of negative impacts, and facilitation of positive effects of plant invasions on ecosystems and their services.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to express their gratitude to Henrique Miguel Pereira for his valuable contribution throughout the development of this research. This study was financially supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology through PhD Grant SFRH/BD/40668/2007 to J. R. Vicente. A. Lomba benefited support by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology through Post-Doctoral Grant SFRH/BPD/80747/2011. J. P. Honrado benefited support from FCT through Project PTDC/AGR-AAM/104819/2008 (ECOSENSING). C. F. Randin benefitted support from the European Research Council (ERC) through project TREELIM. A. Guisan received support from the Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research “Plant Survival”. M. B. Araújo acknowledges support from the ‘Rui Nabeiro’ Chair on Biodiversity, the Spanish Research Council, and the Danish NSF for support of his research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos (CIBIO), Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade do Porto, Vairão, Portugal

    Joana R. Vicente, Ana T. Pinto, Angela Lomba & João P. Honrado

  2. Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade do Porto, Rua do Campo Alegre, s/n, Edifício FC4, 4169-007, Porto, Portugal

    Joana R. Vicente & João P. Honrado

  3. Department of Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology, National Museum of Natural Sciences, CSIC, C/José Gutiérrez Abascal, 2, 28006, Madrid, Spain

    Miguel B. Araújo

  4. Cátedra Rui Nabeiro-Biodiversidade, Universidade de Évora, CIBIO, Largo dos Colegiais, 7000, Évora, Portugal

    Miguel B. Araújo

  5. Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, 2100, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Miguel B. Araújo

  6. Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM), VU University Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1085-1087, 1081 HV, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Peter H. Verburg

  7. Département d’Ecologie et d’Evolution (DEE), Université de Lausanne , Bâtiment de Biologie, 1015, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Angela Lomba & Antoine Guisan

  8. Institute of Botany, University of Basel, Schönbeinstrasse 6, 4056, Basel, Switzerland

    Christophe F. Randin

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  1. Joana R. Vicente
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  2. Ana T. Pinto
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  3. Miguel B. Araújo
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  4. Peter H. Verburg
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  7. Antoine Guisan
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  8. João P. Honrado
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Correspondence to Joana R. Vicente.

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Author Contributions

Joana R. Vicente: Conceived of or designed study; Performed research; Analyzed data; Contributed new methods or models; Wrote the paper. Ana T. Pinto: Analyzed data, Wrote the paper. Miguel B. Araújo: Conceived of or designed study; Wrote the paper. Peter H. Verburg: Contributed new methods or models; Wrote the paper. Ângela Lomba: Wrote the paper. Christophe F. Randin: Conceived of or designed study; Wrote the paper. Antoine Guisan: Conceived of or designed study; Wrote the paper. J. P. Honrado: Conceived of or designed study; Contributed new methods or models; Wrote the paper.

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Vicente, J.R., Pinto, A.T., Araújo, M.B. et al. Using Life Strategies to Explore the Vulnerability of Ecosystem Services to Invasion by Alien Plants. Ecosystems 16, 678–693 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-013-9640-9

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