To create this research digest, we scan over two dozen ecology journals for papers on 1) invasive species present in New York State, or the Northeast region, 2) theoretical concepts or models which may have implications for management in New York State, or 3) economic, social, or ecological impacts of invasive species on a regional or global scale. The goal is to help managers and partners across the state of New York to more easily keep up to date on current research.
Several papers listed each month are open access, and anyone can view entire manuscripts. If an article you would like to read is not available through your institution, you can often contact lead or corresponding authors to receive a copy. If you are unable to obtain a paper this way, please contact us and we are happy to work with you to get you access.
This month: 31 papers from 17 journals
A multidimensional framework to inform stakeholder engagement in the science and management of invasive and pest animal species
Biological Invasions • Beyond measurement of the ecological and economic impacts of invasive species and pest control on conservation, agricultural productivity and ecosystem services, there are multiple social and human dimensions which influence how stakeholders perceive and respond to research and management strategies…
The value of the species interaction-abiotic stress hypothesis (SIASH) for invasion biology: using native latitude to explain non-native latitudinal range sizes
Biological Invasions • Establishment and spread of introduced species are difficult to predict because they are subject to a myriad of factors. A hypothesis which integrates multiple ecological processes, such as the species interaction-abiotic stress hypothesis (SIASH), may improve our ability to predict introduction suc…
Plant origin and fruit traits shape fruit removal patterns by native birds in invaded plant communities
Biological Invasions • Biotic interactions and mutualisms in particular have an important role in ecosystem structure and functioning as well as in the maintenance of biodiversity. Understanding how communities respond to the introduction of non-native species and what determines the establishment of novel interactions be…
Allelopathy is pervasive in invasive plants
Biological Invasions • Invasive species utilize a wide array of trait strategies to establish in novel ecosystems. Among these traits is the capacity to produce allelopathic compounds that can directly inhibit neighboring native plants or indirectly suppress native plants via disruption of beneficial belowground microbial…
High stream flows dilute environmental DNA (eDNA) concentrations and reduce detectability
Diversity and Distributions • Environmental DNA (eDNA) is a rapidly emerging methodology with important applications to environmental management and conservation. However, the effects of stream flow or discharge on eDNA have...
Sea freshening may drive the ecological impacts of emerging and existing invasive non‐native species
Diversity and Distributions • The spread of invasive non‐native species (INNS) will pose major threats to global biodiversity over the coming decades. However, predicting how key effects of climate change will influence the ...
Genetic analyses reveal complex introduction histories for the invasive tree Acacia dealbata Link around the world
Diversity and Distributions • To compare genetic diversity and structure between Acacia dealbata populations sampled across the species’ native range in Australia and from its non‐native ranges in Chile, Madagascar, New Zeal...
Patterns of invasive plant abundance in disturbed versus undisturbed forests within three land types over 16 years
Diversity and Distributions • Long‐term monitoring of forest understorey species was used to describe changes in native and invasive exotic plant abundances over time within different disturbed or undisturbed forest types. T...
Tricky partners: native plants show stronger interaction preferences than their exotic counterparts
Ecology • In ecological networks, neutral predictions suggest that species’ interaction frequencies are proportional to their relative abundances. Deviations from neutral predictions thus correspond to interac...
Spatially explicit removal strategies increase the efficiency of invasive plant species control
Ecological Applications • Effective management strategies are needed to control expansion of invasive alien plant species and attenuate economic and ecological impacts. While previous theoretical studies have assessed optimal...
Exotic species drive patterns of plant species diversity in 93 restored tallgrass prairies
Ecological Applications • A primary goal of restoration ecology is to understand the factors that generate variability in species diversity and composition among restorations. Plant communities may assemble deterministically ...
A closer look at invasiveness and relatedness: life histories, temperature, and establishment success of four congeners
Ecosphere • Successful invasive species are often closely related to other invasive species, suggesting that shared traits contribute to their invasion success. Alternatively, related species can differ in invas...
Phylogeography and the description of geographic patterns in invasion genomics
Frontiers in Ecology & Evolution • Phylogeography in the genomics eraDNA sequencing has been one of biology’s strongest assets since its inception in the mid 20th century and has extensively accelerated progress in genetic, and more recently, genomic research (Collins et al., 2003). The ability to decipher an organism’s DNA has allow…
Combining multiple tactics over time for cost‐effective eradication of invading insect populations
Ecology Letters • When attempting to eradicate invading insect populations, a major question is how to optimally combine multiple tools/tactics. Here we show that mating disruption and sterile male release should not ...
Climate warming facilitates seed germination in native but not invasive Solidago canadensis populations
Frontiers in Ecology & Evolution • Plant performance is commonly temperature-dependent so that this performance could vary with climate warming. Seeds are among the most important propagules of plants, and seed traits strongly influence plant invasion success. Therefore, understanding seed traits under climate warming is useful for…
Two centuries for an almost complete community turnover from native to non‐native species in a riverine ecosystem
Global Change Biology • Non‐native species introductions affect freshwater communities by changing community‐compositions, functional roles, trait occurrences and ecological niche spaces. Nevertheless, reconstructing such c...
Variation of thermal plasticity for functional traits between populations of an invasive aquatic plant from two climatic regions
Hydrobiologia • Temperature inducible phenotypic plasticity is a major player in plant responses to climate warming. Functional responses and their role in determining thermal plasticity of plants remain poorly understood. Our objective was to compare trait responses of six populations of Ludwigia peploides resulti…
Comparative functional responses predict the predatory impact of the highly invasive fish Cichla kelberi
Hydrobiologia •Peacock basses (genus Cichla) are a group of Amazonian predatory fishes that invaded many systems worldwide. Severe ecological impacts have been reported, but no study investigated the functional response of these fishes to variations in prey abundance, a crucial information to determine predator co…
Invasive species influence macroinvertebrate biomonitoring tools and functional diversity in British rivers
Journal of Applied Ecology • Biological invasions could have major implications for the management and conservation of freshwater systems if they lead to a misclassification of waterbodies. However, there is limited understan...
Functional diversity of decomposers modulates litter decomposition affected by plant invasion along a climate gradient
Journal of Ecology • The functional diversity of decomposers modulates and largely determines litter decomposition affected by a woody grass invasion along a climate gradient. Including the changes in decomposer function...
Quantifying range structure to inform management in invaded landscapes
Journal of Applied Ecology • We use a Commonness framework to quantify patterns of plant invasion at multiple spatial scales. We demonstrate how different management strategies are appropriate for the same species in different p...
Similarity in fine-to-total root mass ratio leads to comparative plant-soil feedbacks between co-occurring native and invasive plants
Journal of Plant Ecology • Soil biota can affect plant-plant interactions and non-native plant invasions via plant-soil feedback (PSF). Understanding the drivers underlying
Changes in assemblages of native and alien plants in perennial plantations: prairie species stabilize the community composition
Neobiota • Ornamental plantations are characteristic of a wide range of man-made habitats such as gardens, parks or urban spaces. Nowadays, low-maintenance perennial beds are becoming popular in horticulture and urban planning. Due to low levels of management and good records of initial plantation, perennial b…
What are the economic costs of biological invasions? A complex topic requiring international and interdisciplinary expertise
Neobiota • Biological invasions can cause substantial economic losses and expenses for management, as well as harm biodiversity, ecosystem services and human well-being. A comprehensive assessment of the economic costs of invasions is a challenging but essential prerequisite for efficient and sustainable manag…
Plant invasion impacts on fungal community structure and function depend on soil warming and nitrogen enrichment
Oecologia • The impacts of invasive species on biodiversity may be mitigated or exacerbated by abiotic environmental changes. Invasive plants can restructure soil fungal communities with important implications for native biodiversity and nutrient cycling, yet fungal responses to invasion may depend on numerous …