An integrative framework to assess the spatio-temporal impact of plant invasion on ecosystem functioning

Abstract

Invasive species can alter the structure and functioning of the invaded ecosystem, but predictions of the impact of invasive species on ecosystem functioning are weak. Invasion is determined by the interplay of invasive species traits, the recipient community, and the environmental context. However, efficient approaches to assess the spatial dimension of functional changes in heterogeneous environments and altered plant-plant interactions are lacking. Based on recent technological progress, we posit a way forward to i) quantify the fine-scale heterogeneity of the environmental context, ii) map the structure and function of the invaded system, iii) trace changes induced by the invader with functional tracers, and iv) integrate the different spatio-temporal information from different scales using (artificial intelligence-based) modelling approaches to better predict invasion impacts. An animated 3-D model visualisation demonstrates how maps of functional tracers reveal spatio-temporal dynamics of invader impacts. Merging fine- to coarse-scale spatially explicit information of functional changes with remotely sensed metrics will open new avenues for detecting invader impacts on ecosystem functioning.