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Patterns of Privet: Urbanizing Watersheds, Invasive Ligustrum sinense, and Performance of Native Plant Species in Piedmont Floodplain Forests

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Abstract

Floodplain forests in rapidly changing landscapes with increased urbanization may reshape habitat conditions to the detriment of native biota and favor invasive species. We assessed whether introduced Ligustrum sinense distribution and abundance are causally linked to urbanization and whether mechanisms that promote L. sinense cause the demise of native plant species. We surveyed vegetation in 12 independent floodplain forests along an urban to rural gradient in South Carolina, USA. We then used a seedling transplant experiment in nine watersheds to assess how increased urban development affects survival and growth of L. sinense and three native species over two growing seasons. Urban development ranged from 1 to 45% and L. sinense cover was positively associated with development. However, in our transplant experiment, growth and survival of L. sinense did not differ significantly among watersheds. Native species were able to survive at all sites, but performance varied greatly among sites and species but not as a function of urban development. Our results suggest that although L. sinense invasion and urbanization are related (likely due to proximity of propagules from urban sources), the demise of native species cannot be explained by increased urbanization or changes in edaphic conditions and points to L. sinense as an agent of change in our floodplain forests. These results indicate that all floodplain forests are at risk of invasion if propagules arrive and that land managers need to be vigilant against new species introductions regardless of the proximity to urban areas.

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Acknowledgments

BTG was funded by a NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, Cornell University Graduate School, IGERT Small Grant DGE 0221658, and the South Atlantic Chapter of SWS and a Cornell University Hatch grant (to BB). We thank A. Armstrong, K. Parks, and D. Rayner for help and F. Vermeylen for statistical advice. We benefited from comments of M. Bain, B. Bedford, T. Walters, and two reviewers in addition to contributions from the Blossey lab group.

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  1. Brian Greene

    Present address: Quinney College of Natural Resources, Utah State University, Logan, Utah, 84322, USA

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  1. Department of Natural Resources, Fernow Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, 14853, USA

    Brian Greene & Bernd Blossey

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  1. Brian Greene
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Correspondence to Bernd Blossey.

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Brian Greene conceived ideas, conducted field work, and analyzed data. Brian Greene and Bernd Blossey designed the study and co-wrote the manuscript.

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Greene, B., Blossey, B. Patterns of Privet: Urbanizing Watersheds, Invasive Ligustrum sinense, and Performance of Native Plant Species in Piedmont Floodplain Forests. Ecosystems 17, 990–1001 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-014-9774-4

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