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Species pool, human population, and global versus regional invasion patterns

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Abstract

Context

Biological invasions are among the greatest global and regional threats to biomes in the Anthropocene. Islands, in particular, have been perceived to have higher vulnerability to invasions. Because of the dynamic nature of ongoing invasions, distinguishing regional patterns from global patterns and their underlying determinants remains a challenge.

Objectives

We aim to comparatively examine global versus regional patterns of plant invasions and the possible underlying mechanisms. We also test whether there is a difference in degree of invasion and invasibility between mainland areas and islands.

Methods

We compiled and analyzed data from published sources for 100 mainland areas (i.e., regions, countries, states, and provinces) and 89 islands across the globe.

Results

We find that (1) the pool of exotic species available intrinsically decreases as area of the land considered increases (at global scale, all is native), thus global invasion patterns assessed by exotic fraction (proportion of exotics) are primarily determined by land area; (2) because “exotic” is defined relative to the borders of the target region, “boundary effects” can result in regional differences in invasion patterns without any ecological processes being involved; and (3) human population density is closely linked to exotic fraction within regions that are defined by a single administrative border.

Conclusions

There were clear differences between global and regional patterns of plant invasions. We observed no difference in the exotic fraction-area relationship between mainland areas and islands, supporting what we refer to as the “island-mainland continuum concept” (i.e., no clear separation in the degree of invasion between islands and mainland area with regard to the effects of area). Because of scale-dependency in many observed patterns, future focus should be placed on the links between local, regional, and global invasion patterns.

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Acknowledgements

We thank A. Liebhold, J. Long, M. Winter, and anonymous reviewers for offering data and/or helpful comments. M. Scobie and D. Sovilla of the National Environmental Modeling and Analysis Center (NEMAC) at the University of North Carolina—Asheville assisted with data collection on island invasions. This study was supported by a NSF Macrosystems Biology grant (DEB-1241932).

Author information

Author notes

  1. Basil V. Iannone III

    Present address: School of Forest Resources and Conservation, Program for Resource Efficient Communitiesand Center for Landscape Conservation and Ecology, RM 4, Bldg 106, PO Box 110940, Gainesville, FL, 32611-0940, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. FS Eastern Forest Threat Assessment Center, USDA, 3041 Cornwallis Road, Research Triangle Park, NC, 27709, USA

    Qinfeng Guo

  2. Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, Purdue University, 715 W. State St., West Lafayette, IN, USA

    Basil V. Iannone III, Gabriela C. Nunez-Mir & Songlin Fei

  3. Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources, North Carolina State University, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA

    Kevin M. Potter

  4. USDA Forest Service Southern Research Station, Knoxville, TN, USA

    Christopher M. Oswalt

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  1. Qinfeng Guo
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Correspondence to Qinfeng Guo or Songlin Fei.

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Guo, Q., Iannone III, B.V., Nunez-Mir, G.C. et al. Species pool, human population, and global versus regional invasion patterns. Landscape Ecol 32, 229–238 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-016-0475-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-016-0475-6

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