meta-analysis of trait differences between invasive and non-invasive plant species

• Published in: Ecology letters Vol. 13; no. 2; pp. 235 - 245
• Main Authors: van Kleunen, Mark, Weber, Ewald, Fischer, Markus
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Oxford, UK : Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.02.2010; Blackwell Publishing Ltd; Blackwell
• Subjects: Animal and plant ecology; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Biological and medical sciences; Botany; Comparative studies; Demecology; Ecology; Ecosystem; exotic species; Fitness; functional traits; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; General aspects; Geography; introduced species; invasiveness; literature review; literature reviews; Meta-analysis; non-indigenous species; non-native species; Nonnative species; Plant Development; Tropical Climate; Introduced species; meta-analysis; Review; literature review; Invasion; Metaanalysis; non-native species; invasiveness; Invasive species; Plant; exotic species; functional traits; Comparative studies; Population dynamics; Comparative study; non-indigenous species
• ISSN: 1461-023X; 1461-0248
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1461-0248.2009.01418.x

Ecology Letters (2010) 13: 235-245 A major aim in ecology is identifying determinants of invasiveness. We performed a meta-analysis of 117 field or experimental-garden studies that measured pair-wise trait differences of a total of 125 invasive and 196 non-invasive plant species in the invasive range of the invasive species. We tested whether invasiveness is associated with performance-related traits (physiology, leaf-area allocation, shoot allocation, growth rate, size and fitness), and whether such associations depend on type of study and on biogeographical or biological factors. Overall, invasive species had significantly higher values than non-invasive species for all six trait categories. More trait differences were significant for invasive vs. native comparisons than for invasive vs. non-invasive alien comparisons. Moreover, for comparisons between invasive species and native species that themselves are invasive elsewhere, no trait differences were significant. Differences in physiology and growth rate were larger in tropical regions than in temperate regions. Trait differences did not depend on whether the invasive alien species originates from Europe, nor did they depend on the test environment. We conclude that invasive alien species had higher values for those traits related to performance than non-invasive species. This suggests that it might become possible to predict future plant invasions from species traits.