Oil exploitation drives environmentally- and trait-mediated diversity of non-native plants in the Yungas forest in Argentina

PANASSITI, B; TRIVELLONE, V.; ARMELLA, L. H.; RENISON, D.; CARRANZA, A. V.

FLORA

ELSEVIER GMBH

Año: 2023 vol. 305

0367-2530

Anthropogenic disturbances profoundly affect forest ecosystems worldwide. Oil exploitation is one of the major stressors driving the co-occurrence of non-native plant species (neophytes) in the Yungas forest of Calilegua National Park, Argentina. Using a dataset of records collected from 2010 to 2020, we evaluated environmental drivers and oil exploitation activity shaping the occurrence and diversity of neophytes in 18 study sites.We first compared species richness and diversity at different levels of anthropogenic disturbance. Then, we used different modeling types and algorithm to investigate species-environment relationships and model performances. Lastly, a fourth corner analysis was applied to investigate how the interaction between explanatory variables and plant functional traits shapes neophyte occurrence.We found that oil exploitation activities promoted neophyte diversity in the protected area. Presence of the three most widespread neophytes was influenced by the topographic slope and organic matter content. Macroecological models with all neophyte species had a high predictive performance. The fourth corner analysis showed a positive interaction between plant N-fixation capacity and neophyte presence in the cement platform around the oil borehole, organic matter content and herb layer coverage.To our knowledge, this is the first time that trait-environment relationships under a gradient of anthropogenic disturbance were investigated to explain the occurrence and diversity of neophytes. As dominant neophytes have partially overlapping niches in the Yungas transition forests, we recommend that future restoration actions focus on groups of neophytes rather than single species. Additionally, successfully establishing neophytes, in both disturbed and undisturbed areas, require adapted eradication measures.