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Properties of native plant communities do not determine exotic success during early forest succession

Formally Refereed

Abstract

Considerable research has been devoted to understanding how plant invasions are influenced by properties of the native community and to the traits of exotic species that contribute to successful invasion. Studies of invasibility are common in successionally stable grasslands, but rare in recently disturbed or seral forests. We used 16 years of species richness and abundance data from 1 m2 plots in a clearcut and burned forest in the Cascade Range of western Oregon to address the following questions: 1) is invasion success correlated with properties of the native community? Are correlations stronger among pools of functionally similar taxa (i.e. exotic and native annuals)? Do these relationships change over successional time? 2) Does exotic abundance increase with removal of potentially dominant native species? 3) Do the population dynamics of exotic and native species differ, suggesting that exotics are more successful colonists?

Keywords

secondary succession, exotic plants, plant cover

Citation

Compagnoni, Aldo; Halpern, Charles B. 2009. Properties of native plant communities do not determine exotic success during early forest succession. Ecography. 32: 449-458.
Citations
https://www.fs.usda.gov/research/treesearch/34844