Plant invasions on small Mediterranean islands: An overview
Plant invasions on small Mediterranean islands: An overview
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DOI：
10.1080/11263504.2016.1218974
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发表时间：
2016-01-01
期刊：
影响因子：
2
通讯作者：
Blasi, C.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Celesti-Grapow, L.;Bassi, L.;Blasi, C.
生物入侵已成为生境退化的主要驱动因素之一，也是全世界岛屿生态系统生物多样性丧失的主要原因。入侵物种的扩散对地中海盆地的岛屿构成了特别的环境威胁，这些岛屿是生物多样性的热点，拥有稀有生境和特有物种，特别是在小岛屿上，这些岛屿非常容易受到生物多样性丧失的影响。根据最近的一项调查，在本文中，我们的目标是提供一个概述了当今的非本地维管植物群的地中海小岛屿的基础上，位于地中海中部的37个岛屿的样本，在意大利海岸。通过比较目前的数据与以前在同一研究领域进行的调查期间收集的数据，我们还旨在突出近年来发生在非本地植物物种多样性，建立和分布的主要变化，并提出了第一个一般概述的最突出的植物类群在岛上的引进植物群，重点关注那些对这些变化负有最大责任的人和那些对环境构成最大威胁的人。我们记录了203种非本地植物，其中147种已建立在至少一个调查的岛屿。总体而言，我们发现物种的数量急剧增加，在他们的建立水平和他们的分布范围内的研究领域在最近几年。这可能是由于加强了对植物入侵的研究，以及近几十年来岛上新的引进、逃逸、建立和入侵事件的研究。发现的最引人注目的植物包括阿卡西亚斯和多肉植物，这两类植物似乎正在迅速出现，并对岛屿自然环境的保护构成新的威胁，特别是Carpobrotus属植物，该属植物蔓延到含有稀有和特有分类群的自然生境，严重威胁到当地和全球的生物多样性。总体而言，我们的研究结果表明，在研究区的植物入侵现象，近年来大大加剧。由于这一过程似乎可能会继续下去，我们应该期待更多的建立事件在未来和进一步传播的物种已经存在。在本调查所调查的岛屿上，这是一个特别令人关切的养护问题，这些岛屿有着丰富的地方特色，但在过去几十年里，由于放弃传统的管理做法和发展旅游业，这些岛屿一直面临着深刻的社会经济和环境变化。因此，我们的研究证实，地中海岛屿上的植物入侵是一个严重的环境问题，不仅威胁到地中海地理区域的生物多样性保护，而且在全球范围内，并强调需要进一步加强努力，旨在预防，控制或减轻植物入侵岛屿生态系统的影响。
Biological invasions have become one of the main drivers of habitat degradation and a leading cause of biodiversity loss in island ecosystems worldwide. The spread of invasive species poses a particular environmental threat on the islands of the Mediterranean Basin, which are hot spots of biodiversity and contain rare habitats and endemic species, especially on small islands, which are highly vulnerable to biodiversity loss. Following a recent survey, in this paper we aim to provide an overview of the present-day non-native vascular flora of small Mediterranean islands based on a sample of 37 islands located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, off the coast of Italy. By comparing the current data with those gathered during a previous survey conducted in the same study area, we also aim to highlight the main changes that have occurred in non-native plant species diversity, establishment and distribution in recent years and to present a first general overview of the most prominent plant taxa in the island's introduced flora, focusing on those most responsible for these changes and those that pose the greatest environmental threats. We recorded 203 non-native plant species, 147 of which have established on at least one of the islands investigated. Overall, we detected a sharp increase in the number of species, in their levels of establishment and in the extent of their distribution within the study area in recent years. This may be explained by the intensification of research on plant invasions, as well as to new introduction, escape, establishment and invasion events on the islands in recent decades. The most remarkable plants detected include acacias and succulents, two groups that appear to be emerging very rapidly and to be posing new threats to the conservation of the islands' natural environment, especially the genus Carpobrotus, whose spread into natural habitats containing rare and endemic taxa is seriously threatening biodiversity on both a local and global scale. On the whole, our results show that the plant invasion phenomenon in the study area has in recent years intensified considerably. As this process seems likely to continue, we should expect more establishment events in the future and the further spread of species that are already present. This is of particular conservation concern on the islands investigated in this survey, which are rich in endemisms, but have been facing deep socio-economic and environmental transformations in these last decades as a consequence of the abandonment of traditional management practices and the development of tourism. Our study thus confirms that plant invasions on Mediterranean islands are a serious environmental problem that threatens biodiversity conservation not only in the Mediterranean biogeographic region, but also on the global scale, and highlights the need to further increase efforts aimed at preventing, controlling or mitigating the effects of plant invasions in island ecosystems.