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Community invasibility and invasion by non-native Fraxinus pennsylvanica trees in a degraded tropical forest

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Abstract

Whether invasion of introduced plant species may be aided by certain community properties is poorly understood for species-rich ecosystems, such as tropical montane forests. In Kenya, the non-native tree Fraxinus pennsylvanica has invaded degraded montane forests. We used generalized linear mixed models to examine the relative importance of different community properties to Fraxinus invasion after agricultural abandonment and in the secondary forest. Fraxinus invasion was positively related to plant community species diversity and the abundance of tree saplings, shrubs, ferns, and herbs in the abandoned fallows, but negatively related to the same community properties in the secondary forest. The number of Fraxinus recruits declined with declining propagule pressure in the fallows, but not in the secondary forest. Although adult and saplings of Fraxinus were positively related to community diversity in the fallows, Fraxinus appeared to decrease diversity in the secondary forest. These results show that the success of non-native species invasion and the effects of an invader on the resident community may depend both on properties and degree of disturbance of the community. Plant community diversity and evenness appeared to determine the invasion success by increasing invasibility of the abandoned fallows, but decreasing invasibility of the secondary forest. Our results from a tropical degraded forest emphasize the importance of including habitat characteristics when predicting both the potential of non-native plant invasion and effects of invasives on the particular community.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the European Union through the project ‘Bridging restoration and multi-functionality in degraded forest landscape of Eastern Africa and Indian Ocean Islands’ (FOREAIM). The first author is grateful to the Norwegian State Educational Loan Fund (Lånekassen) for providing financial assistance. We would like to thank farmers for information, Boaz Ngonga, William Bii and the late Florence Muindi, for their help in data collection, Solve Sæbø for assisting with GLMM analysis, Kenya Forestry Research Institute, Londiani, and Kenya Forest Service Itare stations for logistical support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ecology and Natural Resource Management, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, P.O. Box 5003, 1432, Ås, Norway

    Collins Jared Amwatta Mullah, Kari Klanderud & Ørjan Totland

  2. Kenya Forestry Research Institute (KEFRI), P.O. Box 20412-00200, Nairobi, Kenya

    Collins Jared Amwatta Mullah & David Odee

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  1. Collins Jared Amwatta Mullah
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  2. Kari Klanderud
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Correspondence to Kari Klanderud.

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Mullah, C.J.A., Klanderud, K., Totland, Ø. et al. Community invasibility and invasion by non-native Fraxinus pennsylvanica trees in a degraded tropical forest. Biol Invasions 16, 2747–2755 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-014-0701-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-014-0701-6

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