Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin. 1630 Linden Drive, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, USA.
Ecol Appl. 2010 Oct;20(7):1913-25. doi: 10.1890/09-2168.1.
Understanding the factors related to invasive exotic species distributions at broad spatial scales has important theoretical and management implications, because biological invasions are detrimental to many ecosystem functions and processes. Housing development facilitates invasions by disturbing land cover, introducing nonnative landscaping plants, and facilitating dispersal of propagules along roads. To evaluate relationships between housing and the distribution of invasive exotic plants, we asked (1) how strongly is housing associated with the spatial distribution of invasive exotic plants compared to other anthropogenic and environmental factors; (2) what type of housing pattern is related to the richness of invasive exotic plants; and (3) do invasive plants represent ecological traits associated with specific housing patterns? Using two types of regression analysis (best subset analysis and hierarchical partitioning analysis), we found that invasive exotic plant richness was equally or more strongly related to housing variables than to other human (e.g., mean income and roads) and environmental (e.g., topography and forest cover) variables at the county level across New England. Richness of invasive exotic plants was positively related to area of wildland-urban interface (WUI), low-density residential areas, change in number of housing units between 1940 and 2000, mean income, plant productivity (NDVI), and altitudinal range and rainfall; it was negatively related to forest area and connectivity. Plant life history traits were not strongly related to housing patterns. We expect the number of invasive exotic plants to increase as a result of future housing growth and suggest that housing development be considered a primary factor in plans to manage and monitor invasive exotic plant species.
理解与入侵外来物种分布相关的因素在广泛的空间尺度上具有重要的理论和管理意义，因为生物入侵对许多生态系统功能和过程都有不利影响。住房开发通过破坏土地覆盖、引入非本地景观植物以及促进沿道路传播繁殖体来促进入侵。为了评估住房与入侵外来植物分布之间的关系，我们提出了以下三个问题：（1）与其他人为和环境因素相比，住房与入侵外来植物的空间分布有多大关联；（2）哪种住房模式与入侵外来植物的丰富度有关；（3）入侵植物是否代表与特定住房模式相关的生态特征？通过两种类型的回归分析（最佳子集分析和分层分区分析），我们发现，在新英格兰各县的全县范围内，入侵外来植物丰富度与住房变量的关系与其他人为变量（如平均收入和道路）和环境变量（如地形和森林覆盖）同等或更密切相关。入侵外来植物的丰富度与野生-城市交错带（WUI）的面积、低密度住宅区、1940 年至 2000 年之间住房单元数量的变化、平均收入、植物生产力（NDVI）以及海拔范围和降雨量呈正相关；与森林面积和连通性呈负相关。植物生活史特征与住房模式没有密切关系。我们预计，随着未来住房增长，入侵外来植物的数量将会增加，并建议将住房开发作为管理和监测入侵外来植物物种计划的主要因素之一。
