RT info:eu-repo/semantics/article
T1 Distributional patterns of endemic, native and alien species along a roadside elevation gradient in Tenerife, Canary Islands
A1 Fernández-Palacios, José María
K1 Disturbance
K1 Diversity partitioning
K1 Invasive species
K1 Island biogeography
K1 MIREN
K1 Plant species richness
K1 perturbación
K1 partición de la diversidad
K1 especies invasivas
K1 biogeografía insular
K1 variedad de especies de plantas
AB Invasion by alien plant species may be rapid and aggressive, causing erosion of local biodiversity. This is particularlytrue for islands, where natural and anthropogenic corridors promote the rapid spread of invasive plants. Although evidenceshows that corridors may facilitate plant invasions, the question of how their importance in the spread of alien species variesalong environmental gradients deserves more attention. Here, we addressed this issue by examining diversity patterns (speciesrichness of endemic, native and alien species) along and across roads, along an elevation gradient from sea-level up to 2050 ma.s.l. in Tenerife (Canary Islands, Spain), at multiple spatial scales. Species richness was assessed using a multi-scale samplingdesign consisting of 59 T-transects of 150 m × 2 m, along three major roads each placed over the whole elevation gradient. Eachtransect was composed of three sections of five plots each: Section 1 was located on the road edges, Section 2 at intermediatedistance, and Section 3 far from the road edge, the latter representing the “native community” less affected by road-specific disturbance.The effect of elevation and distance from roadsides was evaluated for the three groups of species (endemic, native andalien species), using parametric and non-parametric regression analyses as well as additive diversity partitioning. Differencesamong roads explained the majority of the variation in alien species richness and composition. Patterns in alien species richnesswere also affected by elevation, with a decline in richness with increasing elevation and no alien species recorded at highelevations. Elevation was the most important factor determining patterns in endemic and native species. These findings confirmthat climate filtering reflected in varying patterns along elevational gradients is an important determinant of the richness of alienspecies (which are not adapted to high elevations), while anthropogenic pressures may explain the richness of alien species atlow elevation.
PB Akademiai Kiado
YR 2015
FD 2015
LK http://riull.ull.es/xmlui/handle/915/18439
UL http://riull.ull.es/xmlui/handle/915/18439
LA en
DS Repositorio institucional de la Universidad de La Laguna
RD 17-may-2024