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Little, but increasing evidence of impacts by alien bryophytes

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Abstract

Based on data of bryophyte invasions into 82 regions on five continents of both hemispheres, we aim here at a first comprehensive overview of the impacts that bryophytes may have on biodiversity and socio-economy. Of the 139 bryophytes species which are alien in the study regions seven cause negative impacts on biodiversity in 26 regions, whereas three species cause negative impacts on socio-economic sectors in five regions. The vast majority of impacts stem from anecdotal observations, whereas only 14 field or experimental studies (mostly on Campylopus introflexus in Europe) have quantitatively assessed the impacts of an alien bryophyte. The main documented type of impact on biodiversity is competition (8 alien bryophytes), with native cryptogams being most affected. In particular, C. introflexus (9 regions) and Pseudoscleropodium purum (7 regions) affect resident species composition. The few socio-economic impacts are caused by alien bryophytes which form dense mats in lawns and are then considered a nuisance. Most negative impacts on biodiversity have been recorded in natural grasslands, forests, and wetlands. Impacts of alien bryophytes on biodiversity and socio-economy are a recent phenomenon, with >85 % of impacts on biodiversity, and 80 % of impacts on socio-economy recorded since 1990. On average, 40 years (impacts on biodiversity) and 25 years (impacts on socio-economy) elapsed between the year a bryophyte species has been first recorded as alien in a region and the year impacts have been recorded first. Taking into account the substantial time lag between first record and first recorded impact in a region, it seems to be likely that the currently moderate impacts of alien bryophytes will continue to increase. As quantitative studies on impacts of alien bryophytes are rare and restricted to few environments and biogeographic regions, there is a need for addressing potential impacts of alien bryophytes in yet understudied settings.

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Acknowledgments

Many colleagues have contributed their expertise to the data set on alien bryophytes and provided information on the impacts they cause (in brackets: region for which data have been provided): J. Beever (Chathams, New Zealand), H. Deguchi (Japan), A. Fife (Chathams, New Zealand), J.-P. Frahm (Germany, Macaronesia), D. Glenny (New Zealand), J. M. González-Mancebo (Canary Islands), M. Hill (UK), J. Klinck (Denmark), P. Lambdon (Ascunsion, St. Helena), J. Larrain (Chile), N. Miller (USA), F. Müller (Chile, Argentina), R. Porley (UK), R.A. Pursell (USA), R. Seppelt (Australia), M. Sabovljević (Serbia), J. Shevock (California), J.S. Song (South Korea, Japan), A. Stebel (Poland), J.-D. Yang (Taiwan), R. Zander (USA). Their contributions have been extremely helpful. We greatly appreciate the comments of two anonymous reviewers and the editor, Petr Pyšek.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Environment Agency Austria, Spittelauer Lände 5, 1090, Vienna, Austria

    Franz Essl, Klaus Steinbauer & Dietmar Moser

  2. Department of Conservation Biology, Vegetation and Landscape Ecology, Faculty Centre of Biodiversity, University of Vienna, Rennweg 14, 1030, Vienna, Austria

    Franz Essl, Klaus Steinbauer, Stefan Dullinger, Thomas Mang & Dietmar Moser

  3. Vienna Institute for Nature Conservation and Analyses, Giessergasse 6/7, 1090, Vienna, Austria

    Thomas Mang

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  1. Franz Essl
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Correspondence to Franz Essl.

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10530_2013_572_MOESM1_ESM.xlsx

Appendix S1: Regions (n = 82) included in this study with geographical variables, and their alien and invasive bryophyte species numbers. Legend: reg. abbr.: region abbreviation; hem.: hemisphere (N: northern/S: southern); invasion status classification of alien bryophytes: nat: number of naturalized species, cas: number of casual species, crypt: number of cryptogenic species; biodiv. impacts: number of species causing negative impacts on biodiversity; socio-econ. impacts: number of species causing negative impacts on socio-economy (XLSX 18 kb)

10530_2013_572_MOESM2_ESM.csv

Appendix S2: Alien bryophytes causing negative impacts on biodiversity and socio-economy. Given are species name and native range (continents), the type of impacts, ecosystems and taxonomic groups affected, the region where impacts have been recorded, the year when the species respectively when negative impacts have been first recorded in this study region. Further, data sources are provided for impact types (quantitative field or experimental studies are denoted with an asterisk (*)), ecosystems and taxonomic groups affected, and year of first impact recorded (for full references refer to Appendix S3) (CSV 6 kb)

10530_2013_572_MOESM3_ESM.docx

Appendix S3: Data sources for records of alien bryophyte species in the 82 regions included in this study and the regions for which these data sources contained data. Additional unpublished data have been provided by colleagues (see acknowledgments) (DOCX 49 kb)

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Essl, F., Steinbauer, K., Dullinger, S. et al. Little, but increasing evidence of impacts by alien bryophytes. Biol Invasions 16, 1175–1184 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-013-0572-2

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