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Plant invasions into mountains and alpine ecosystems: current status and future challenges

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Abstract

Recent years have seen a surge of interest in understanding patterns and processes of plant invasions into mountains. Here, we synthesise current knowledge about the spread of non-native plants along elevation gradients, emphasising the current status and impacts that these species have in alpine ecosystems. Globally, invasions along elevation gradients are influenced by propagule availability, environmental constraints on population growth, evolutionary change and biotic interactions. The highest elevations are so far relatively free from non-native plants. Nonetheless, in total nearly 200 non-native plant species have been recorded from alpine environments around the world. However, we identified only three species as specifically cold-adapted, with the overwhelming majority having their centres of distribution under warmer environments, and few have substantial impacts on native communities. A combination of low propagule availability and low invasibility likely explain why alpine environments host few non-native plants relative to lowland ecosystems. However, experiences in some areas demonstrate that alpine ecosystems are not inherently resistant to invasions. Furthermore, they will face increasing pressure from the introduction of pre-adapted species, climate change, and the range expansion of native species, which are already causing concern in some areas. Nonetheless, because they are still relatively free from non-native plants, preventative action could be an effective way to limit future impacts of invasions in alpine environments.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Agustina Barros, Verónica Sandoya, Ileana Herrera and Estefany Goncalves for contributing data. AP and LAC were funded by the Institute of Ecology and Biodiversity with the grants ICM P05-002 and CONICYT PFB-23. LAC also acknowledges funding from FONDECYT 1130592. JJL was funded by the Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO). GL was supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (GK201503044).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Systems Science, Institute of Integrative Biology, ETH Zurich, 8092, Zurich, Switzerland

    Jake M. Alexander & Christoph Kueffer

  2. Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, 1015, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Jake M. Alexander

  3. Centre of Excellence of Plant and Vegetation Ecology, University of Antwerp, 2610, Wilrijk, Belgium

    Jonas J. Lembrechts

  4. Departamento de Botánica, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Oceanográficas, Universidad de Concepción, Casilla 160-C, Concepción, Chile

    Lohengrin A. Cavieres

  5. Institute of Ecology and Biodiversity (IEB), Casilla 160-C, Concepción, Chile

    Lohengrin A. Cavieres & Aníbal Pauchard

  6. Department of Botany, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 3190 Maile Way, Honolulu, HI, 96822, USA

    Curtis Daehler

  7. Institute of Biology/Geobotany and Botanical Garden, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle (Saale), Germany

    Sylvia Haider

  8. German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), Leipzig, Germany

    Sylvia Haider

  9. College of Life Sciences, Shaanxi Normal University, 710119, Xi’an, China

    Gang Liu

  10. Department of Ecology, Environment and Evolution, La Trobe University, PO Box 821, Wodonga, VIC, 3689, Australia

    Keith McDougall

  11. Department of Biodiversity and Natural Environment, Research Institute for Nature and Forest INBO, 1070, Brussels, Belgium

    Ann Milbau

  12. Laboratorio de Invasiones Biológicas, Facultad de Ciencias Forestales, Universidad de Concepción, Casilla 160-C, Concepción, Chile

    Aníbal Pauchard

  13. Department of Land Resources and Environmental Sciences, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, 59717, USA

    Lisa J. Rew & Tim Seipel

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  1. Jake M. Alexander
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Correspondence to Jake M. Alexander.

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Alexander, J.M., Lembrechts, J.J., Cavieres, L.A. et al. Plant invasions into mountains and alpine ecosystems: current status and future challenges. Alp Botany 126, 89–103 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00035-016-0172-8

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