Cao Pinna Luigi, Gallien Laure, Jucker Tommaso, Chytrý Milan, La Bella Greta, Acosta Alicia T R, Carboni Marta
Department of Science, Roma Tre University, Rome, Italy.
School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK.
Glob Chang Biol. 2025 Aug;31(8):e70379. doi: 10.1111/gcb.70379.
Humans have spread plants globally for millennia, inadvertently causing ecological disruptions. Apart from their negative effects, biological invasions provide a unique opportunity to study how species modify their niche when confronted with novel environments. Focusing on the Mediterranean Basin, we assessed (1) which traits influence niche dynamics, and (2) whether niche conservatism or niche shift promotes invasion success. We selected the 80 most widespread alien vascular plant species in Mediterranean Europe and compiled data on their distributions in their native and invaded ranges. We then tested how a species' residence time, biogeographic origin, dispersal ability, functional traits, and intraspecific trait variability (ITV) influence its niche dynamics following invasion. Using already published independent data, we finally assessed whether niche dynamics can explain different dimensions of invasion success (quantified as regional spread or local abundance). We found that niche shifts were common (71% of species) and were mostly driven by species failing to occupy all suitable environments in their invaded range (unfilling), regardless of residence time. Niche unfilling and niche expansion were more important in species with high intraspecific trait variability introduced from non-Mediterranean biomes (temperate or tropical). Niche expansion was also greater in species with long-distance dispersal, a narrow native niche, and bigger seeds. Interestingly, invasion success correlated more with a species' ability to conserve its niche and residence time than with niche expansion. Niche shifts were better predicted by species traits than residence time. For example, high adaptive and acclimatization potential (inferred from high intraspecific trait variability) favored niche shifts in general, and long-distance dispersal favored niche expansion. Understanding how these traits relate to niche dynamics is important since a species' ability to conserve and fill its niche is, in turn, a good predictor of invasion success.
数千年来，人类已将植物传播至全球，无意间造成了生态破坏。除了负面影响外，生物入侵提供了一个独特的机会，可用于研究物种在面对新环境时如何改变其生态位。以地中海盆地为研究对象，我们评估了：（1）哪些性状会影响生态位动态；（2）生态位保守还是生态位转移促进入侵成功。我们选择了地中海欧洲地区分布最广泛的80种外来维管植物物种，并收集了它们在原生地和入侵地分布的数据。然后，我们测试了物种的居留时间、生物地理起源、扩散能力、功能性状以及种内性状变异（ITV）如何影响其入侵后的生态位动态。最后，我们利用已发表的独立数据评估生态位动态是否能够解释入侵成功的不同维度（量化为区域扩散或局部丰度）。我们发现生态位转移很常见（71%的物种），且主要是由于物种未能在其入侵范围内占据所有适宜环境（未填满）所致，与居留时间无关。对于从非地中海生物群落（温带或热带）引入的种内性状变异较高的物种，生态位未填满和生态位扩张更为重要。在具有远距离扩散、原生生态位较窄且种子较大的物种中，生态位扩张也更大。有趣的是，入侵成功与物种保护其生态位和居留时间的能力的相关性，比与生态位扩张的相关性更大。用物种性状比用居留时间能更好地预测生态位转移。例如，一般来说，高适应和驯化潜力（从高种内性状变异推断）有利于生态位转移，而远距离扩散有利于生态位扩张。了解这些性状如何与生态位动态相关很重要，因为物种保护和填充其生态位的能力反过来又是入侵成功的良好预测指标。
