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.
In this month’s research digest: 32 articles from 16 journals
Timing and hydrological conditions associated with bigheaded carp movement past navigation dams on the upper Mississippi river
Biological Invasions • As the range of non-native bigheaded carps (Hypophthalmichthys spp.) continues to expand throughout river systems of the United States, managers are tasked with preventing or slowing the spread of these invasive species. Main stem navigation dams on the upper Mississippi River, long considered a det…
Invasion by hawkweeds
Biological Invasions • Hawkweeds, from the Pilosella and Hieracium genera, are significant invaders of cool climate grasslands and herbfields, reducing productivity and impacting on ecosystem processes and species richness. With significant research on the ecology and biology of hawkweeds, this review identifies a number …
Golden mussel (Limnoperna fortunei) survival during winter at the northern invasion front implies a potential high‐latitude distribution
Diversity & Distributions • Golden mussel Limnoperna fortunei is an invasive bivalve in many freshwater ecosystems in Asia and South America. Cold winter temperatures are expected to restrict its spread to high-latitude ar...
Modelling the damage costs of invasive alien species
Biological Invasions • The rate of biological invasions is growing unprecedentedly, threatening ecological and socioeconomic systems worldwide. Quantitative understandings of invasion temporal trajectories are essential to discern current and future economic impacts of invaders, and then to inform future management strate…
Recent CO2 levels promote increased production of the toxin parthenin in an invasive Parthenium hysterophorus biotype
Nature • Not only is climate change having an impact on invasive plants through changes in ecosystem, atmospheric carbon may be changing the plants themselves. This analysis finds higher concentrations of parthenin at higher levels of CO2, making an invasive weed more toxic.
Between approval and disapproval: Citizens’ views on the invasive tree Ailanthus altissima and its management
Neobiota • While cities are invasion hotspots, the view of urban residents on non-native species is critically understudied – an important knowledge gap since strategies on biological invasions could gain power by integrating human values, attitudes and perceptions. How citizens perceive the non-native tree Ai…
Economic costs of biological invasions within North America
Neobiota • Invasive species can have severe impacts on ecosystems, economies, and human health. Though the economic impacts of invasions provide important foundations for management and policy, up-to-date syntheses of these impacts are lacking. To produce the most comprehensive estimate of invasive species cos…
Advanced molecular-based surveillance of quagga and zebra mussels: A review of environmental DNA/RNA (eDNA/eRNA) studies and considerations for future directions
Neobiota • Sensitive methods, capable of rapidly and accurately detecting aquatic invasive species, are in demand. Molecular-based approaches, such as environmental DNA (eDNA) surveys, satisfy these requirements and have grown in popularity. As such, eDNA surveys could aid the effort to combat the colonisation…
Geographic patterns of seed trait variation in an invasive species: how much can close populations differ?
Oecologia • Seeds play a major role in plant species persistence and expansion, and therefore they are essential when modeling species dynamics. However, homogeneity in seed traits is generally assumed, underestimating intraspecific trait variability across the geographic space, which might bias species success…
Conservation planning for pollinators in the U.S. Great Plains: considerations of context, treatments, and scale
Ecosphere• Populations of many species of grassland-associated butterflies, moths, and bumblebees in the Great Plains of North America are experiencing steep declines due to habitat loss and degradation—primari...
A framework for understanding how biodiversity patterns unfold across multiple spatial scales in urban ecosystems
Ecosphere• Whether cities are more or less diverse than surrounding environments, and the extent to which non-native species in cities impact regional species pools, remain two fundamental yet unanswered questi...
Predicting the potential distribution of the invasive freshwater diatom Lindavia intermedia in New Zealand lakes
Aquatic Invasions • The freshwater diatom Lindavia intermedia is believed to have been recently introduced
to New Zealand lakes. Mucilage (“lake snow”) produced by L. intermedia can block
water intakes and/or degrade recreational values.
to New Zealand lakes. Mucilage (“lake snow”) produced by L. intermedia can block
water intakes and/or degrade recreational values.
The role of competition and herbivory in biotic resistance against invaders: a synergistic effect
Ecology • Invasive species pose a major threat to global diversity, and once they are well established their eradication typically becomes unfeasible. However, certain natural mechanisms can increase the resis...
Gatekeepers of transformation: private landowners evaluate invasives based on impacts to ecosystem services
Ecosphere• Biological invasions are not new, yet the anthropogenic drivers of global change have produced unprecedented ecological novelty through the expansion of invasive species. Private landowners play an i...
Worldwide border interceptions provide a window into human‐mediated global insect movement
Ecological Applications • As part of national biosecurity programs, cargo imports, passenger baggage and international mail are inspected at ports of entry to verify compliance with phytosanitary regulations and to directly i...
Changes in plant communities of low‐salinity tidal marshes in response to sea‐level rise
Ecosphere• As sea-level rises, low-salinity tidal marshes experience greater flooding with more saline water. In the Chesapeake Bay estuary, we compared the 1980 and 2014 tidal marsh inventories (TMIs) of plant...
Invasion frustration: can biotic resistance explain the small geographic range of non-native croaking gourami Trichopsis vittata (Cuvier, 1831) in Florida, USA?
Aquatic Invasions • Croaking gourami Trichopsis vittata is a non-native fish species that has
maintained a reproducing population in Florida, USA, since at least the 1970s.
However, unlike most other non-native fishes in Florida...
maintained a reproducing population in Florida, USA, since at least the 1970s.
However, unlike most other non-native fishes in Florida...
Recovery of the ruffe (Gymnocephalus cernua) population after an invasion boom of round goby (Neogobius melanostomus) in De Gijster Lake (the Netherlands)
Aquatic Invasions • Studies dealing with invasive species usually focus on changes caused by invasion,
however, natural recovery of the system after the initial population explosion (boom)
has been much less studied.
however, natural recovery of the system after the initial population explosion (boom)
has been much less studied.
Assessing the invasion history and contemporary diet of nonnative redear sunfish (Lepomis microlophus Günther, 1859) in an ecotonal riverscape
Aquatic Invasions • The redear sunfish (Lepomis microlophus Günther, 1859) is widely-introduced as a
sportfish in the United States and globally. The redear sunfish can become invasive
when introduced to lentic waterbodies...
sportfish in the United States and globally. The redear sunfish can become invasive
when introduced to lentic waterbodies...
Plant evolution overwhelms geographical origin in shaping rhizosphere fungi across latitudes
Global Change Biology • Plant invasions have been shown to impose great threats to aboveground biotic communities; however, invasive impacts on soil biota remain ambiguous. By first integrating phylogenetic and biogeographi...
Role of species richness and human‐impacts in resisting invasive species in tropical forests
Journal of Ecology • The biotic resistance hypothesis suggests that biodiversity rich areas should be resistant to biological invasions. Globally, conservationists use this hypothesis to protect diverse ecosystems. Ho...
Invasion drives plant diversity loss through competition and ecosystem modification
Journal of Ecology • We studied impacts on plant biodiversity by a highly invasive vine in a protected area of Ontario. Using a hierarchical sampling design with multiple plots nested within sites, we found that while co...
Relative abundance of invasive plants more effectively explains the response of wetland communities to different invasion degrees than phylogenetic evenness
Journal of Plant Ecology • Native plant communities are commonly invaded by invasive plants to different degrees. However, the relative contribution of the invasive plant ab
AMF colonization and community of a temperate invader and co-occurring natives grown under different CO2 concentrations for three years
Journal of Plant Ecology • Global changes such as atmospheric CO2 enrichment often facilitate exotic plant invasions and alter soil arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) commun
Rates, patterns, and drivers of tree reinvasion 15 years after large‐scale meadow‐restoration treatments
Restoration Ecology • Tree encroachment threatens the biodiversity and ecological functioning of grasslands worldwide. Reversing effects of encroachment requires not only removing trees, but limiting subsequent invasions,...
Novel plant-soil feedbacks drive adaption of invasive plants to soil legacies of native plants under nitrogen deposition
Plant and Soil • Aims Soil legacies mediate interactions between native and introduced plants, contributing to both invasion and biotic resistance to invasion. Given that nitrogen deposition can promote allelochemical release, reduce the benefits of soil microbes, and affect trait plasticity, nitrogen deposition lik…
Nutrient‐use strategy and not competition determines native and invasive species response to changes in soil nutrient availability
Restoration Ecology • Non-native invasive plants often outcompete native species under high resource availability. Restoration techniques that lower resources may, therefore, create favorable conditions for resource conse...