Railways reshape soil fungi, opening the door to invasive plants
Li W, Zheng Y, van Kleunen M
Invasive Species
Every new road, rail line, or trail cut through natural land quietly rewires the soil biology underneath it, and that rewiring is one of the main doors invasive plants push through to take over.
When a new railway is built, the soil around stations loses nutrients and moisture and its chemistry shifts. The fungi living in that soil change too, and some of those changes make it easier for invasive, non-native plants to move in and crowd out the locals. This study found that the fewer native plants present, the more invasive species tend to follow, creating a feedback loop that spreads along the rail corridor.
Key Findings
Station soils had lower organic carbon, total nitrogen, and moisture alongside higher pH, driving altered nutrient ratios compared to undisturbed sites.
Disturbed vegetation near stations showed significantly greater alien plant richness, cover, and biomass, with structural equation modeling identifying native plant loss as the strongest predictor of alien plant richness.
Soil fungal beta diversity decreased near stations while richness of plant-pathogenic and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal guilds increased, linking belowground disruption to aboveground invasion dynamics.
chevron_right Technical Summary
A survey along the 495-km China-Laos Railway found that areas near train stations have degraded soils, disrupted fungal communities, and significantly more invasive plant species than undisturbed nearby sites. The study traced multiple pathways linking railway construction to plant invasion, with loss of native plant diversity being the strongest driver.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
Railway station habitats are associated with altered soil-fungal communities and higher alien plant dominance along the China-Laos Railway.
Linear infrastructures are rapidly expanding worldwide, however, their ecological impacts remain poorly understood. Here we integrate vegetation, soil, and microbial surveys along a 495-km north-so...
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