Craven , D , Thakur , M P , Cameron , E K , Frelich , L E , Beausejour , R , Blair , R B , Blossey , B , Burtis , J , Choi , A , Davalos , A , Fahey , T J , Fisichelli , N A , Gibson , K , Handa , I T , Hopfensperger , K , Loss , S R , Nuzzo , V , Maerz , J C , Sackett , T , Scharenbroch , B C , Smith , S M , Vellend , M , Umek , L G & Eisenhauer , N 2017 , ' The unseen invaders : introduced earthworms as drivers of change in plant communities in North American forests (a meta-analysis) ' , Global Change Biology , vol. 23 , no. 3 , pp. 1065-1074 . https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.13446
Title: | The unseen invaders : introduced earthworms as drivers of change in plant communities in North American forests (a meta-analysis) |
Author: | Craven, Dylan; Thakur, Madhav P.; Cameron, Erin K.; Frelich, Lee E.; Beausejour, Robin; Blair, Robert B.; Blossey, Bernd; Burtis, James; Choi, Amy; Davalos, Andrea; Fahey, Timothy J.; Fisichelli, Nicholas A.; Gibson, Kevin; Handa, I. Tanya; Hopfensperger, Kristine; Loss, Scott R.; Nuzzo, Victoria; Maerz, John C.; Sackett, Tara; Scharenbroch, Bryant C.; Smith, Sandy M.; Vellend, Mark; Umek, Lauren G.; Eisenhauer, Nico |
Contributor organization: | University of Helsinki Biosciences Centre of Excellence in Metapopulation Research Global Change and Conservation Lab |
Date: | 2017-03 |
Language: | eng |
Number of pages: | 10 |
Belongs to series: | Global Change Biology |
ISSN: | 1354-1013 |
DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.13446 |
URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/10138/178722 |
Abstract: | 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. |
Subject: |
introduced earthworms
plant communities plant diversity biological invasions earthworm invasion community composition meta-analysis INVASIVE EARTHWORMS HARDWOOD FORESTS SEEDLING ESTABLISHMENT BIOLOGICAL INVASIONS NONNATIVE EARTHWORMS ENDOGEIC EARTHWORMS GLOBAL METAANALYSIS BIODIVERSITY CHANGE ECOSYSTEM ENGINEER TEMPERATE FORESTS 1172 Environmental sciences 1181 Ecology, evolutionary biology |
Peer reviewed: | Yes |
Rights: | cc_by |
Usage restriction: | openAccess |
Self-archived version: | publishedVersion |
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