Contrasting alien effects on native diversity along biotic and abiotic gradients in an arid protected area

Abstract

Abstract Alien impact on native diversity could be a function of both the relatedness of alien species to native community and resources availability. Here, we investigated whether alien plants expand or decrease the functional and phylogenetic space of native plant communities, and how this is affected by alien relatedness to natives and by resources availability. We used a trait-environment dataset of 33 alien and 130 native plants in 83 pairs of invaded and non-invaded plots, covering a gradient of soil resources (organic matter-nitrogen) in Saint-Katherine-Protectorate, Egypt. First, we compared the changes in native composition and calculated alien relatedness to natives within each pair of plots. Second, we tested the effects of resources availability and relatedness on the magnitude of alien impact (defined as a change in native diversity). We found that native composition was phylogenetically less but functionally more diverse in invaded plots compared to non-invaded ones. Moreover, in resources-rich plots, dissimilar aliens to natives significantly increased native diversity, while in resource-limited ones, similar aliens to natives declined native diversity. These results suggest that the assessment of alien impacts in arid-regions is significantly linked to resources-availability and relatedness to natives. Hence, future studies should test the generality of our findings in different environments.