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Stage dependence of Elton’s biotic resistance hypothesis of biological invasions

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Abstract

Elton’s biotic resistance hypothesis posits that species-rich communities are more resistant to invasion. However, it remains unknown how species, phylogenetic and functional richness, along with environmental and human-impact factors, collectively affect plant invasion as alien species progress along the introduction–naturalization–invasion continuum. Using data from 12,056 local plant communities of the Czech Republic, this study reveals varying effects of these factors on the presence and richness of alien species at different invasion stages, highlighting the complexity of the invasion process. Specifically, we demonstrate that although species richness and functional richness of resident communities had mostly negative effects on alien species presence and richness, the strength and sometimes also direction of these effects varied along the continuum. Our study not only underscores that evidence for or against Elton’s biotic resistance hypothesis may be stage-dependent but also suggests that other invasion hypotheses should be carefully revisited given their potential stage-dependent nature.

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Fig. 1: Geographical distribution of the non-invaded and invaded plots in the Czech Republic.
Fig. 2: Summary results from models linking alien species presence and richness to explanatory variables.

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Data availability

The data used in this study were obtained from these sources: the data on vegetation plots were from the Czech National Phytosociological Database54 (https://botzool.cz/vegsci/phytosociologicalDb/); species’ statuses along the invasion continuum were extracted from Pyšek et al.55; the three leaf traits required for CSR calculation were collected from the Pladias Database of the Czech Flora and Vegetation58 and other publications61,62,63,64,65,66; species CSR scores were calculated using the StrateFy tool60; climatic variables were extracted from Tolasz73; soil pH was collected from the Land Use/Land Cover Area Frame Survey74; and the human population density of the cadastral area where each plot located was obtained from the Digital Vector Database of Czech Republic ArcČR v.4.0 (ref. 75). The data that support the findings of this study are available via GitHub at https://github.com/kun-ecology/BioticResistance_InvasionContinuum and via Zenodo at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.12818669 (ref. 79).

Code availability

R functions for the computation of phylogenetic and functional metrics have been deposited on GitHub (https://github.com/kun-ecology/ecoloop). R scripts for reproducing the analyses and figures are available via GitHub at https://github.com/kun-ecology/BioticResistance_InvasionContinuum and via Zenodo at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.12818669 (ref. 79).

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Acknowledgements

K.G. and W.-Y.G. were supported by the Natural Science Foundation of China (grant no. 32171588, awarded to W.-Y.G.) and the Shanghai Pujiang Program (grant no. 21PJ1402700, awarded to W.-Y.G.). K.G. was also supported by the Shanghai Sailing Program (grant no. 22YF1411700) and the Natural Science Foundation of China (grant no. 32301386). P.P. was supported by the Czech Science Foundation (EXPRO grant no. 19-28807X) and the Czech Academy of Sciences (long-term research development project RVO 67985939). M.C. and Z.L. were supported by the Czech Science Foundation (EXPRO grant no. 19-28491X). J.D. was supported by the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic (grant no. SS02030018). M.S. was funded by the project GEOSANT with the funding organization Masaryk University (MUNI/A/1469/2023).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Zhejiang Tiantong Forest Ecosystem National Observation and Research Station, Shanghai Key Lab for Urban Ecological Processes and Eco-Restoration & Research Center for Global Change and Complex Ecosystems, School of Ecological and Environmental Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China

    Kun Guo & Wen-Yong Guo

  2. Department of Invasion Ecology, Institute of Botany, Czech Academy of Sciences, Průhonice, Czech Republic

    Petr Pyšek

  3. Department of Ecology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic

    Petr Pyšek

  4. Department of Botany and Zoology, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic

    Milan Chytrý, Jan Divíšek, Martina Sychrová & Zdeňka Lososová

  5. Department of Geography, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic

    Jan Divíšek & Martina Sychrová

  6. Ecology, Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany

    Mark van Kleunen

  7. Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Plant Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation, Taizhou University, Taizhou, People’s Republic of China

    Mark van Kleunen

  8. Department of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (DiSAA), University of Milan, Milan, Italy

    Simon Pierce

  9. Zhejiang Zhoushan Island Ecosystem Observation and Research Station, Zhoushan, People’s Republic of China

    Wen-Yong Guo

  10. State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, East China Normal University, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China

    Wen-Yong Guo

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  1. Kun Guo
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Contributions

K.G., P.P. and W.-Y.G. conceptualized the research. P.P., M.C., J.D., M.S. and W.-Y.G. provided the data. K.G. analysed the data and drafted the paper, with substantial contributions from all authors.

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Correspondence to Wen-Yong Guo.

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Guo, K., Pyšek, P., Chytrý, M. et al. Stage dependence of Elton’s biotic resistance hypothesis of biological invasions. Nat. Plants (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-024-01790-0

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