Making a super-invader: Long-term data reveal the vital rates that determine differential dominance of invasive alien tree species

POWELL, PRISCILA ANA; GARCÍA-DÍAZ, PABLO; MONTTI, LÍA; GRAU, HÉCTOR RICARDO; BLUNDO, CECILIA; CARILLA, JULIETA; BURSLEM, DAVID F. R. P.

Edimburgo

Congreso; British Ecological Society -Annual meeting; 2022

British Ecological Society

To dominate recipient communities, highly invasive alien trees must overcome trade-offs between their vital rates, such as survival and growth and/or recruitment. An appropriate quantification of these trade-offs is hampered by the paucity of time series of demographic data that extend beyond the lag phase of invasions. We built bespoke statistical models incorporating imperfect detection and missing data imputation to uncover the demographic differences between three Asian invasive tree species and 20 native trees, using long-term data from subtropical montane forests in Argentina. Ligustrum lucidum displayed high rates of recruitment and growth with virtually no mortality and emerged as a super-invader, while Morus alba and Prunus persica had vital rates that fell within the range of variation of native species. Our results indicate that super-invaders achieve dominance by overcoming trade-offs between survival and either growth or recruitment that otherwise regulate the abundance of tree species within communities.