The global loss of floristic uniqueness

Qiang Yang (), Patrick Weigelt, Trevor S. Fristoe, Zhijie Zhang, Holger Kreft, Anke Stein, Hanno Seebens, Wayne Dawson, Franz Essl, Christian König, Bernd Lenzner, Jan Pergl, Robin Pouteau, Petr Pyšek, Marten Winter, Aleksandr L. Ebel, Nicol Fuentes, Eduardo L. H. Giehl, John Kartesz, Pavel Krestov, Toomas Kukk, Misako Nishino, Andrey Kupriyanov, Jose Luis Villaseñor, Jan J. Wieringa, Abida Zeddam, Elena Zykova and Mark Kleunen
Additional contact information
Qiang Yang: University of Konstanz
Patrick Weigelt: University of Göttingen
Trevor S. Fristoe: University of Konstanz
Zhijie Zhang: University of Konstanz
Holger Kreft: University of Göttingen
Anke Stein: University of Konstanz
Hanno Seebens: Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre
Wayne Dawson: Durham University
Franz Essl: University of Vienna
Christian König: University of Potsdam
Bernd Lenzner: University of Vienna
Jan Pergl: Institute of Botany, Department of Invasion Ecology
Robin Pouteau: IRD
Petr Pyšek: Institute of Botany, Department of Invasion Ecology
Marten Winter: German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig
Aleksandr L. Ebel: Tomsk State University
Nicol Fuentes: Universidad de Concepción
Eduardo L. H. Giehl: Federal University of Santa Catarina
John Kartesz: Biota of North America Program
Pavel Krestov: Botanical Garden-Institute FEB RAS
Toomas Kukk: Estonian University of Life Sciences
Misako Nishino: Biota of North America Program
Andrey Kupriyanov: Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences
Jose Luis Villaseñor: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
Jan J. Wieringa: Naturalis Biodiversity Centre
Abida Zeddam: Ingenieur en Ecologie vegetale
Elena Zykova: Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences
Mark Kleunen: University of Konstanz

Nature Communications, 2021, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: Abstract Regional species assemblages have been shaped by colonization, speciation and extinction over millions of years. Humans have altered biogeography by introducing species to new ranges. However, an analysis of how strongly naturalized plant species (i.e. alien plants that have established self-sustaining populations) affect the taxonomic and phylogenetic uniqueness of regional floras globally is still missing. Here, we present such an analysis with data from native and naturalized alien floras in 658 regions around the world. We find strong taxonomic and phylogenetic floristic homogenization overall, and that the natural decline in floristic similarity with increasing geographic distance is weakened by naturalized species. Floristic homogenization increases with climatic similarity, which emphasizes the importance of climate matching in plant naturalization. Moreover, floristic homogenization is greater between regions with current or past administrative relationships, indicating that being part of the same country as well as historical colonial ties facilitate floristic exchange, most likely due to more intensive trade and transport between such regions. Our findings show that naturalization of alien plants threatens taxonomic and phylogenetic uniqueness of regional floras globally. Unless more effective biosecurity measures are implemented, it is likely that with ongoing globalization, even the most distant regions will lose their floristic uniqueness.

Date: 2021
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-27603-y Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:12:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-021-27603-y

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-27603-y

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().