Dynamics of biotic resistance to plant invasions.
Sheppard CS, Brian JI, Dawson W, Dostál P, Essl F
Invasive Species
Every invasive plant spreading through a local nature preserve is running a gauntlet of native competitors, insects, and soil life — and understanding why that gauntlet weakens over decades could change how restoration ecologists time their interventions.
When a plant from another part of the world arrives somewhere new, the local plants, insects, and soil organisms push back and often slow its spread. Scientists analyzed hundreds of experiments and found that competition from neighboring native plants is the single biggest barrier to invaders, followed by above-ground grazers like insects. Strangely, the native community's resistance dips as the invader settles in over decades, but after about 200 years it rebounds — suggesting nature does eventually catch up, just slowly.
Key Findings
Meta-analysis of 240 studies found competition with native plants exerts the strongest biotic resistance to invaders, followed by above-ground antagonists (e.g., herbivorous insects); below-ground antagonists (e.g., soil pathogens) showed no consistent effect.
Biotic resistance first decreased with invader residence time but increased again after approximately 200 years, suggesting a U-shaped temporal dynamic driven by eco-evolutionary adaptation of the native community.
No significant difference in biotic resistance was detected between alien and native plant species when directly compared, challenging the assumption that invaders are inherently less suppressed by local communities.
chevron_right Technical Summary
Native plant communities actively resist invasive species through competition, grazing, and biodiversity effects — but this resistance weakens as invaders settle in, then rebounds after roughly 200 years as the native community adapts. A global analysis of 240 studies maps how and why this tug-of-war plays out over time.
Abstract Preview
Biotic resistance, the reduction in invasion success caused by native communities, plays an important role in the long-term dynamics of biological invasions. A large body of empirical research on b...
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