Alien and native plant richness and abundance respond to different environmental drivers across multiple gravel floodplain ecosystems
May 2016
Publication: Alien and native plant richness and abundance respond to different environmental drivers across multiple gravel floodplain ecosystems
Author(s): T. J. Brummer, A. E. Byrom, J. J. Sullivan, P. E. Hulme
Alien and native richness and cover were shaped by different variables, so managing the ecosystem (e.g. flow regime) to mitigate aliens would not necessarily promote natives. Promotion of natives will require considerations of propagule supply and whether extant native species are suited to low-elevation climatic conditions. Aliens were associated with predictors that approximate disturbance processes. Increased flow variability in winter could lead to an increase in the number of aliens; conversely, flow stabilization is likely to allow problematic invaders to increase in cover locally. Published in Diversity and Distributions.