Trait-Environment Relationships Reveal the Success of Alien Plants Invasiveness in an Urbanized Landscape
Urban areas are being affected by rapidly increasing human-made pressures that can strongly homogenize biodiversity, reduce habitat heterogeneity, and facilitate the invasion of alien species. One of the key concerns in invaded urban areas is comparing the trait–environment relationships between ali...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-07-01
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| Series: | Plants |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/10/8/1519 |
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| author | Reham F. El-Barougy Mohammed A. Dakhil Mohamed Abdelaal Ali El-Keblawy Louis-Félix Bersier |
| author_facet | Reham F. El-Barougy Mohammed A. Dakhil Mohamed Abdelaal Ali El-Keblawy Louis-Félix Bersier |
| author_sort | Reham F. El-Barougy |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Urban areas are being affected by rapidly increasing human-made pressures that can strongly homogenize biodiversity, reduce habitat heterogeneity, and facilitate the invasion of alien species. One of the key concerns in invaded urban areas is comparing the trait–environment relationships between alien and native species, to determine the underlying causes of invasiveness. In the current study, we used a trait–environment dataset of 130 native plants and 33 alien plants, recorded in 100 plots covering 50 urban areas and 50 non-urban ones in an urbanization gradient in the arid mountainous Saint-Katherine protected area in Egypt. We measured eleven morphological plant traits for each plant species and ten environmental variables in each plot, including soil resources and human-made pressures, to construct trait–environment associations using a fourth-corner analysis. In addition, we measured the mean functional and phylogenetic distances between the two species groups along an urbanization gradient. Our results revealed strongly significant relationships of alien species traits with human-made pressures and soil resources in urban areas. However, in non-urban areas, alien species traits showed weak and non-significant associations with the environment. Simultaneously, native plants showed consistency in their trait–environment relationships in urban and non-urban areas. In line with these results, the functional and phylogenetic distances declined between the aliens and natives in urban areas, indicating biotic homogenization with increasing urbanization, and increased in non-urban areas, indicating greater divergence between the two species groups. Thereby, this study provided evidence that urbanization can reveal the plasticity of alien species and can also be the leading cause of homogenization in an arid urban area. Future urban studies should investigate the potential causes of taxonomic, genetic, and functional homogenization in species composition in formerly more diverse urbanized areas. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T08:28:15Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-518efe356827490297d4f0059988c0a4 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2223-7747 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T08:28:15Z |
| publishDate | 2021-07-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Plants |
| spelling | doaj.art-518efe356827490297d4f0059988c0a42023-11-22T09:17:29ZengMDPI AGPlants2223-77472021-07-01108151910.3390/plants10081519Trait-Environment Relationships Reveal the Success of Alien Plants Invasiveness in an Urbanized LandscapeReham F. El-Barougy0Mohammed A. Dakhil1Mohamed Abdelaal2Ali El-Keblawy3Louis-Félix Bersier4Botany and Microbiology Department, Faculty of Science, Damietta University, Damietta 34518, EgyptBotany and Microbiology Department, Faculty of Science, Helwan University, Cairo 11790, EgyptDepartment of Botany, Faculty of Science, Mansoura University, Mansoura 35516, EgyptDepartment of Applied Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Sharjah, Sharjah P.O. Box 27272, United Arab EmiratesDepartment of Biology-Ecology and Evolution, University of Fribourg, Chemin du Musée 10, 1700 Fribourg, SwitzerlandUrban areas are being affected by rapidly increasing human-made pressures that can strongly homogenize biodiversity, reduce habitat heterogeneity, and facilitate the invasion of alien species. One of the key concerns in invaded urban areas is comparing the trait–environment relationships between alien and native species, to determine the underlying causes of invasiveness. In the current study, we used a trait–environment dataset of 130 native plants and 33 alien plants, recorded in 100 plots covering 50 urban areas and 50 non-urban ones in an urbanization gradient in the arid mountainous Saint-Katherine protected area in Egypt. We measured eleven morphological plant traits for each plant species and ten environmental variables in each plot, including soil resources and human-made pressures, to construct trait–environment associations using a fourth-corner analysis. In addition, we measured the mean functional and phylogenetic distances between the two species groups along an urbanization gradient. Our results revealed strongly significant relationships of alien species traits with human-made pressures and soil resources in urban areas. However, in non-urban areas, alien species traits showed weak and non-significant associations with the environment. Simultaneously, native plants showed consistency in their trait–environment relationships in urban and non-urban areas. In line with these results, the functional and phylogenetic distances declined between the aliens and natives in urban areas, indicating biotic homogenization with increasing urbanization, and increased in non-urban areas, indicating greater divergence between the two species groups. Thereby, this study provided evidence that urbanization can reveal the plasticity of alien species and can also be the leading cause of homogenization in an arid urban area. Future urban studies should investigate the potential causes of taxonomic, genetic, and functional homogenization in species composition in formerly more diverse urbanized areas.https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/10/8/1519homogenizationurbanizationhuman-made pressuressoil resourcesplasticityalien plants |
| spellingShingle | Reham F. El-Barougy Mohammed A. Dakhil Mohamed Abdelaal Ali El-Keblawy Louis-Félix Bersier Trait-Environment Relationships Reveal the Success of Alien Plants Invasiveness in an Urbanized Landscape Plants homogenization urbanization human-made pressures soil resources plasticity alien plants |
| title | Trait-Environment Relationships Reveal the Success of Alien Plants Invasiveness in an Urbanized Landscape |
| title_full | Trait-Environment Relationships Reveal the Success of Alien Plants Invasiveness in an Urbanized Landscape |
| title_fullStr | Trait-Environment Relationships Reveal the Success of Alien Plants Invasiveness in an Urbanized Landscape |
| title_full_unstemmed | Trait-Environment Relationships Reveal the Success of Alien Plants Invasiveness in an Urbanized Landscape |
| title_short | Trait-Environment Relationships Reveal the Success of Alien Plants Invasiveness in an Urbanized Landscape |
| title_sort | trait environment relationships reveal the success of alien plants invasiveness in an urbanized landscape |
| topic | homogenization urbanization human-made pressures soil resources plasticity alien plants |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/10/8/1519 |
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