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Direct and indirect effects of invasion by the alien tree Ailanthus altissima on riparian plant communities and ecosystem multifunctionality

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Abstract

Most existing studies addressing the effects of invasive species on biodiversity focus on species richness ignoring better indicators of biodiversity and better predictors of ecosystem functioning such as the diversity of evolutionary histories (phylodiversity). Moreover, no previous study has separated the direct effect of alien plants on multiple ecosystem functions simultaneously (multifunctionality) from those indirect ones mediated by the decrease on biodiversity caused by alien plants. We aimed to analyze direct and indirect effects, mediated or not by its effect on biodiversity, of the invasive tree Ailanthus altissima on ecosystem multifunctionality of riparian habitats under Mediterranean climate. We measured vegetation attributes (species richness and phylodiversity) and several surrogates of ecosystem functioning (understory plant biomass, soil enzyme activities, available phosphorous and organic matter) in plots infested by A. altissima and in control (non-invaded) ones. We used structural equation modelling to tease apart the direct and indirect effects of A. altissima on ecosystem multifunctionality. Our results suggest that lower plant species richness, phylodiversity and multifunctionality were associated to the presence of A. altissima. When analyzing each function separately, we found that biodiversity has the opposite effect of the alien plant on all the different functions measured, therefore reducing the strength of the effect (either positive or negative) of A. altissima on them. This is one of the few existing studies addressing the effect of invasive species on phylodiversity and also studying the effect of invasive species on multiple ecosystem functions simultaneously.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Language Centre (University of Alicante) for improving the English of this manuscript. We are grateful for the collaboration of the staff at the Carrascal de la Font Roja and Sierra de Mariola Natural Parks. M. J. Nava, A. Constán, E. Pastor, A. Dávila, E. Rico and the rest of collaborators helped with the fieldwork. F. T. Maestre, Y. Valiñani, A. Sanz and P. Alonso helped with the enzymatic assays. This research and SCN PhD fellowship were supported by the ESTRES Project (063/SGTB/2007/7.1) and RECUVES Project (077/RN08/04.1) founded by the Spanish Ministerio de Medio Ambiente and BAHIRA CICYT project (CGL2008-03649/BTE) founded by the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología. Font Roja Natura UA Scientific Station (ECFRN UA), depending on the Pro-Vice-Chancellorship for Research, Development and Innovation (VIDI) of the University of Alicante, supported also this research. SS was supported by the European Research Council under the European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013)/ERC Grant agreement 242658 (BIOCOM). RT was partially supported by a postdoctoral scholarship from the Spanish Ministerio de Educación (BVA 2010-0375).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Estación Científica Font Roja Natura UA, Universidad de Alicante, s/n, 03801, Alcoi, Spain

    Soraya Constán-Nava & Andreu Bonet

  2. Área de Biodiversidad y Conservación, Departamento de Biología y Geología, Escuela Superior de Ciencias Experimentales y Tecnología, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, 28933, Móstoles, Spain

    Santiago Soliveres

  3. Institute of Plant Sciences, University of Bern, Altenbergrain 21, 3013, Bern, Switzerland

    Santiago Soliveres

  4. Departamento de Ciências da Vida, Centro de Ecologia Funcional, Universidade de Coimbra, 3001–455, Coimbra, Portugal

    Rubén Torices

  5. Conselleria d’Infraestructures, Territori i Medi Ambient, Generalitat Valenciana, SS. TT. d’Alacant. C/Churruca no. 29, 03071, Alacant, Spain

    Lluís Serra

  6. Instituto Multidisciplinar para el Estudio del Medio Ramón Margalef, Universidad de Alicante, 99, 03080, Alicante, Spain

    Andreu Bonet

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  1. Soraya Constán-Nava
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  2. Santiago Soliveres
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  4. Lluís Serra
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Correspondence to Soraya Constán-Nava.

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Soraya Constán-Nava and Santiago Soliveres have contributed equally to this work.

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Constán-Nava, S., Soliveres, S., Torices, R. et al. Direct and indirect effects of invasion by the alien tree Ailanthus altissima on riparian plant communities and ecosystem multifunctionality. Biol Invasions 17, 1095–1108 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-014-0780-4

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