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Some theories and experimental studies suggest that areas of low plant species richness may be invaded more easily than areas of high plant species richness. We gathered nested-scale vegetation data on plant species richness, foliar cover, and frequency from 200 1-m2 subplots (20 1000-m2 modified-Whittaker plots) in the Colorado Rockies (USA), and 160 1-m2 subplots (16 1000-m2 plots) in the Central Grasslands in Colorado, Wyoming, South Dakota, and Minnesota (USA) to test the generality of this paradigm. At the 1-m2 scale, the paradigm was supported in four prairie types in the Central Grasslands, where exotic species richness declined with increasing plant species richness and cover. At the 1-m2 scale, five forest...
Categories: Publication;
Types: Citation,
Journal Citation;
Tags: Central Grasslands (USA) plant diversity patterns,
Ecological Monographs,
Rocky Mountains (USA) plant diversity patterns,
biodiversity,
exotic plant invasions, All tags...
exotic species richness,
multi-scale,
native plant diversity,
spatial autocorrelation,
species composition overlap,
species-specific responses,
vegetation sampling, Fewer tags
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Many studies have quantified plant invasions by determining patterns of non-native species establishment (i.e. richness and absolute cover). Until recently, dominance has been largely overlooked as a significant component of invasion. Therefore, we re-examined a 6-year data set of 323 0.1 ha plots within 18 vegetation types collected in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument from 1998 to 2003, including dominance (i.e. relative cover) in our analyses. We specifically focused on the non-native species Bromus tectorum, a notable dominant annual grass in this system. We found that non-native species establishment and dominance are both occurring in species-rich, mesic vegetation types. Therefore, non-native...
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