Long-term trajectories of non-native vegetation on islands globally

Anna Walentowitz; Bernd Lenzner; Franz Essl; Nichola Strandberg; Alvaro Castilla-Beltrán; José María Fernández-Palacios; Svante Björck; Simon Connor; Simon G. Haberle; Karl Ljung; Matiu Prebble; Janet M. Wilmshurst; Cynthia A. Froyd; Erik J. de Boer; Lea de Nascimento; Mary E. Edwards; Janelle Stevenson; Carl Beierkuhnlein; Manuel J. Steinbauer; Sandra Nogué

doi:10.1111/ele.14196

Long-term trajectories of non-native vegetation on islands globally

Anna Walentowitz
, Bernd Lenzner
, Franz Essl
, Nichola Strandberg
, Alvaro Castilla-Beltrán
, José María Fernández-Palacios
, Svante Björck
, Simon Connor
, Simon G. Haberle
, Karl Ljung
, Matiu Prebble
, Janet M. Wilmshurst
, Cynthia A. Froyd
, Erik J. de Boer
, Lea de Nascimento
, Mary E. Edwards
, Janelle Stevenson
, Carl Beierkuhnlein
, Manuel J. Steinbauer
, Sandra Nogué

Department of Botany and Biodiversity Research

Publications: Contribution to journal › Article › Peer Reviewed

Abstract

Human-mediated changes in island vegetation are, among others, largely caused by the introduction and establishment of non-native species. However, data on past changes in non-native plant species abundance that predate historical documentation and censuses are scarce. Islands are among the few places where we can track human arrival in natural systems allowing us to reveal changes in vegetation dynamics with the arrival of non-native species. We matched fossil pollen data with botanical status information (native, non-native), and quantified the timing, trajectories and magnitude of non-native plant vegetational change on 29 islands over the past 5000 years. We recorded a proportional increase in pollen of non-native plant taxa within the last 1000 years. Individual island trajectories are context-dependent and linked to island settlement histories. Our data show that non-native plant introductions have a longer and more dynamic history than is generally recognized, with critical implications for biodiversity baselines and invasion biology.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	729-741
Number of pages	13
Journal	Ecology Letters
Volume	26
Issue number	5
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.14196
Publication status	Published - May 2023

Funding

We thank all data providers of pollen data and island floral checklists. A special thanks goes to Kathy J. Willis and Inger Greve Alsos for their support in data compilation and valuable insights on the article. AW and MS thank Sofie Paulus for her support in data preparation. FE and BL appreciate funding by the Austrian Science Foundation FWF (grant no. I 5825‐B). SN was supported by the European Research Council grant ERC‐CoG‐2021‐101045309 TIME‐LINES. SB thanks The Swedish Research Council (VR) for funding. NS and CAF acknowledge support from the Natural Environment Research Council (grant numbers NE/L002531/1, NE/C510667/1). ACB was supported by a Juan de la Cierva Formación Postdoctoral Fellowship from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation 538(FJC2020‐043774‐I). JMW acknowledges support from the Strategic Science Investment Fund of the New Zealand Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment’s Science and Innovation Group. We thank the Open Access Fund of the University of Bayreuth and the German Research Foundation (DFG, 491183248) for funding. We are grateful for the helpful comments by an anonymous reviewer, Crystal McMichael, Mark Bush and the Handling Editors John Wiliams and Helene Muller‐Landau. Open Access funding enabled and organized by Projekt DEAL. We thank all data providers of pollen data and island floral checklists. A special thanks goes to Kathy J. Willis and Inger Greve Alsos for their support in data compilation and valuable insights on the article. AW and MS thank Sofie Paulus for her support in data preparation. FE and BL appreciate funding by the Austrian Science Foundation FWF (grant no. I 5825-B). SN was supported by the European Research Council grant ERC-CoG-2021-101045309 TIME-LINES. SB thanks The Swedish Research Council (VR) for funding. NS and CAF acknowledge support from the Natural Environment Research Council (grant numbers NE/L002531/1, NE/C510667/1). ACB was supported by a Juan de la Cierva Formación Postdoctoral Fellowship from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation 538(FJC2020-043774-I). JMW acknowledges support from the Strategic Science Investment Fund of the New Zealand Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment’s Science and Innovation Group. We thank the Open Access Fund of the University of Bayreuth and the German Research Foundation (DFG, 491183248) for funding. We are grateful for the helpful comments by an anonymous reviewer, Crystal McMichael, Mark Bush and the Handling Editors John Wiliams and Helene Muller-Landau. Open Access funding enabled and organized by Projekt DEAL.

Austrian Fields of Science 2012

106003 Biodiversity research

Keywords

alien species
Anthropocene
biodiversity
biological invasions
fossil pollen
island biogeography
novel ecosystems
palaeoecology

Access to Document

10.1111/ele.14196

Cite this

Walentowitz, A., Lenzner, B., Essl, F., Strandberg, N., Castilla-Beltrán, A., Fernández-Palacios, J. M., Björck, S., Connor, S., Haberle, S. G., Ljung, K., Prebble, M., Wilmshurst, J. M., Froyd, C. A., de Boer, E. J., de Nascimento, L., Edwards, M. E., Stevenson, J., Beierkuhnlein, C., Steinbauer, M. J., & Nogué, S. (2023). Long-term trajectories of non-native vegetation on islands globally. Ecology Letters, 26(5), 729-741. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.14196

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abstract = "Human-mediated changes in island vegetation are, among others, largely caused by the introduction and establishment of non-native species. However, data on past changes in non-native plant species abundance that predate historical documentation and censuses are scarce. Islands are among the few places where we can track human arrival in natural systems allowing us to reveal changes in vegetation dynamics with the arrival of non-native species. We matched fossil pollen data with botanical status information (native, non-native), and quantified the timing, trajectories and magnitude of non-native plant vegetational change on 29 islands over the past 5000 years. We recorded a proportional increase in pollen of non-native plant taxa within the last 1000 years. Individual island trajectories are context-dependent and linked to island settlement histories. Our data show that non-native plant introductions have a longer and more dynamic history than is generally recognized, with critical implications for biodiversity baselines and invasion biology.",

keywords = "alien species, Anthropocene, biodiversity, biological invasions, fossil pollen, island biogeography, novel ecosystems, palaeoecology",

author = "Anna Walentowitz and Bernd Lenzner and Franz Essl and Nichola Strandberg and Alvaro Castilla-Beltr{\'a}n and Fern{\'a}ndez-Palacios, \{Jos{\'e} Mar{\'i}a\} and Svante Bj{\"o}rck and Simon Connor and Haberle, \{Simon G.\} and Karl Ljung and Matiu Prebble and Wilmshurst, \{Janet M.\} and Froyd, \{Cynthia A.\} and \{de Boer\}, \{Erik J.\} and \{de Nascimento\}, Lea and Edwards, \{Mary E.\} and Janelle Stevenson and Carl Beierkuhnlein and Steinbauer, \{Manuel J.\} and Sandra Nogu{\'e}",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2023 The Authors. Ecology Letters published by John Wiley \& Sons Ltd.",

year = "2023",

month = may,

doi = "10.1111/ele.14196",

language = "English",

volume = "26",

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Walentowitz, A, Lenzner, B , Essl, F, Strandberg, N, Castilla-Beltrán, A, Fernández-Palacios, JM, Björck, S, Connor, S, Haberle, SG, Ljung, K, Prebble, M, Wilmshurst, JM, Froyd, CA, de Boer, EJ, de Nascimento, L, Edwards, ME, Stevenson, J, Beierkuhnlein, C, Steinbauer, MJ & Nogué, S 2023, 'Long-term trajectories of non-native vegetation on islands globally', Ecology Letters, vol. 26, no. 5, pp. 729-741. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.14196

TY - JOUR

T1 - Long-term trajectories of non-native vegetation on islands globally

AU - Walentowitz, Anna

AU - Lenzner, Bernd

AU - Essl, Franz

AU - Strandberg, Nichola

AU - Castilla-Beltrán, Alvaro

AU - Fernández-Palacios, José María

AU - Björck, Svante

AU - Connor, Simon

AU - Haberle, Simon G.

AU - Ljung, Karl

AU - Prebble, Matiu

AU - Wilmshurst, Janet M.

AU - Froyd, Cynthia A.

AU - de Boer, Erik J.

AU - de Nascimento, Lea

AU - Edwards, Mary E.

AU - Stevenson, Janelle

AU - Beierkuhnlein, Carl

AU - Steinbauer, Manuel J.

AU - Nogué, Sandra

PY - 2023/5

Y1 - 2023/5

N2 - Human-mediated changes in island vegetation are, among others, largely caused by the introduction and establishment of non-native species. However, data on past changes in non-native plant species abundance that predate historical documentation and censuses are scarce. Islands are among the few places where we can track human arrival in natural systems allowing us to reveal changes in vegetation dynamics with the arrival of non-native species. We matched fossil pollen data with botanical status information (native, non-native), and quantified the timing, trajectories and magnitude of non-native plant vegetational change on 29 islands over the past 5000 years. We recorded a proportional increase in pollen of non-native plant taxa within the last 1000 years. Individual island trajectories are context-dependent and linked to island settlement histories. Our data show that non-native plant introductions have a longer and more dynamic history than is generally recognized, with critical implications for biodiversity baselines and invasion biology.

AB - Human-mediated changes in island vegetation are, among others, largely caused by the introduction and establishment of non-native species. However, data on past changes in non-native plant species abundance that predate historical documentation and censuses are scarce. Islands are among the few places where we can track human arrival in natural systems allowing us to reveal changes in vegetation dynamics with the arrival of non-native species. We matched fossil pollen data with botanical status information (native, non-native), and quantified the timing, trajectories and magnitude of non-native plant vegetational change on 29 islands over the past 5000 years. We recorded a proportional increase in pollen of non-native plant taxa within the last 1000 years. Individual island trajectories are context-dependent and linked to island settlement histories. Our data show that non-native plant introductions have a longer and more dynamic history than is generally recognized, with critical implications for biodiversity baselines and invasion biology.

KW - alien species

KW - Anthropocene

KW - biodiversity

KW - biological invasions

KW - fossil pollen

KW - island biogeography

KW - novel ecosystems

KW - palaeoecology

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85151071257

U2 - 10.1111/ele.14196

DO - 10.1111/ele.14196

M3 - Article

C2 - 36958810

AN - SCOPUS:85151071257

SN - 1461-023X

VL - 26

SP - 729

EP - 741

JO - Ecology Letters

JF - Ecology Letters

IS - 5

ER -

Long-term trajectories of non-native vegetation on islands globally

Abstract

Funding

Austrian Fields of Science 2012

Keywords

Access to Document

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