The unseen invaders: introduced earthworms as drivers of change in plant communities in North American forests (a meta‐analysis)

نویسندگان

  • Dylan Craven
  • Madhav P. Thakur
  • Erin K. Cameron
  • Lee E. Frelich
  • Robin Beauséjour
  • Robert B. Blair
  • Bernd Blossey
  • James Burtis
  • Amy Choi
  • Andrea Dávalos
  • Timothy J. Fahey
  • Nicholas A. Fisichelli
  • Kevin Gibson
  • I. Tanya Handa
  • Kristine Hopfensperger
  • Scott R. Loss
  • Victoria Nuzzo
  • John C. Maerz
  • Tara Sackett
  • Bryant C. Scharenbroch
  • Sandy M. Smith
  • Mark Vellend
  • Lauren G. Umek
  • Nico Eisenhauer
چکیده

Globally, biological invasions can have strong impacts on biodiversity as well as ecosystem functioning. While less conspicuous than introduced aboveground organisms, introduced belowground organisms may have similarly strong effects. Here, we synthesize for the first time the impacts of introduced earthworms on plant diversity and community composition in North American forests. We conducted a meta-analysis using a total of 645 observations to quantify mean effect sizes of associations between introduced earthworm communities and plant diversity, cover of plant functional groups, and cover of native and non-native plants. We found that plant diversity significantly declined with increasing richness of introduced earthworm ecological groups. While plant species richness or evenness did not change with earthworm invasion, our results indicate clear changes in plant community composition: cover of graminoids and non-native plant species significantly increased, and cover of native plant species (of all functional groups) tended to decrease, with increasing earthworm biomass. Overall, these findings support the hypothesis that introduced earthworms facilitate particular plant species adapted to the abiotic conditions of earthworm-invaded forests. Further, our study provides evidence that introduced earthworms are associated with declines in plant diversity in North American forests. Changing plant functional composition in these forests may have long-lasting effects on ecosystem functioning.

برای دانلود متن کامل این مقاله و بیش از 32 میلیون مقاله دیگر ابتدا ثبت نام کنید

ثبت نام

اگر عضو سایت هستید لطفا وارد حساب کاربری خود شوید

منابع مشابه

Seasonal Variation of Earthworm Abundances and Biomass in Natural Forests and Plantations (North of Iran)

Soil productivity and plant growth are usually affected by biological activities of earthworms. The objective of this study was a comparative evaluation of earthworm abundances in 20-year-old plantations of Alder, Oak, Maple and Cypress with the adjacent natural mixed broad-leaved deciduous forest in the Caspian region of Iran. In this research one sample plot, each 1 ha; was selected in every ...

متن کامل

Earthworm invasion as the driving force behind plant invasion and community change in northeastern North American forests.

Identification of factors that drive changes in plant community structure and contribute to decline and endangerment of native plant species is essential to the development of appropriate management strategies. Introduced species are assumed to be driving causes of shifts in native plant communities, but unequivocal evidence supporting this view is frequently lacking. We measured native vegetat...

متن کامل

Extended leaf phenology may drive plant invasion through direct and apparent competition

Invasive plants can inflict great harm, yet drivers of successful invasion remain unclear. Many invaders of North American deciduous forests exhibit extended leaf phenology (ELP), or longer growing season relative to natives. ELP may grant invaders competitive advantages, but we argue that ELP more potently drives invasion in the presence of herbivores. ELP invaders can support herbivores by le...

متن کامل

Declines in woodland salamander abundance associated with non-native earthworm and plant invasions.

Factors that negatively affect the quality of wildlife habitat are a major concern for conservation. Non-native species invasions, in particular, are perceived as a global threat to the quality of wildlife habitat. Recent evidence indicates that some changes to understory plant communities in northern temperate forests of North America, including invasions by 3 non-native plant species, are fac...

متن کامل

Will environmental changes reinforce the impact of global warming on the prairie–forest border of central North America?

© The Ecological Society of America www.frontiersinecology.org C interiors have biome boundaries that are highly sensitive to climate change. The northern prairie–forest biome border in central North America is such a case; it is ~2700 km in length, extending from northern Alberta, Canada, southeastward across the Canadian prairie provinces, and into the western Great Lakes region of the US (De...

متن کامل

ذخیره در منابع من


  با ذخیره ی این منبع در منابع من، دسترسی به آن را برای استفاده های بعدی آسان تر کنید

برای دانلود متن کامل این مقاله و بیش از 32 میلیون مقاله دیگر ابتدا ثبت نام کنید

ثبت نام

اگر عضو سایت هستید لطفا وارد حساب کاربری خود شوید

عنوان ژورنال:

دوره 23  شماره 

صفحات  -

تاریخ انتشار 2017