Native diversity buffers against severity of non-native tree invasions.
Delavaux CS., Crowther TW., Zohner CM., Robmann NM., Lauber T., van den Hoogen J., Kuebbing S., Liang J., de-Miguel S., Nabuurs G-J., Reich PB., Abegg M., Adou Yao YC., Alberti G., Almeyda Zambrano AM., Alvarado BV., Alvarez-Dávila E., Alvarez-Loayza P., Alves LF., Ammer C., Antón-Fernández C., Araujo-Murakami A., Arroyo L., Avitabile V., Aymard GA., Baker TR., Bałazy R., Banki O., Barroso JG., Bastian ML., Bastin J-F., Birigazzi L., Birnbaum P., Bitariho R., Boeckx P., Bongers F., Bouriaud O., Brancalion PHS., Brandl S., Brienen R., Broadbent EN., Bruelheide H., Bussotti F., Gatti RC., César RG., Cesljar G., Chazdon R., Chen HYH., Chisholm C., Cho H., Cienciala E., Clark C., Clark D., Colletta GD., Coomes DA., Cornejo Valverde F., Corral-Rivas JJ., Crim PM., Cumming JR., Dayanandan S., de Gasper AL., Decuyper M., Derroire G., DeVries B., Djordjevic I., Dolezal J., Dourdain A., Engone Obiang NL., Enquist BJ., Eyre TJ., Fandohan AB., Fayle TM., Feldpausch TR., Ferreira LV., Fischer M., Fletcher C., Frizzera L., Gamarra JGP., Gianelle D., Glick HB., Harris DJ., Hector A., Hemp A., Hengeveld G., Hérault B., Herbohn JL., Herold M., Hillers A., Honorio Coronado EN., Hui C., Ibanez TT., Amaral I., Imai N., Jagodziński AM., Jaroszewicz B., Johannsen VK., Joly CA., Jucker T., Jung I., Karminov V., Kartawinata K., Kearsley E., Kenfack D., Kennard DK., Kepfer-Rojas S., Keppel G., Khan ML., Killeen TJ., Kim HS., Kitayama K., Köhl M., Korjus H., Kraxner F., Laarmann D., Lang M., Lewis SL., Lu H., Lukina NV., Maitner BS., Malhi Y., Marcon E., Marimon BS., Marimon-Junior BH., Marshall AR., Martin EH., Martynenko O., Meave JA., Melo-Cruz O., Mendoza C., Merow C., Mendoza AM., Moreno VS., Mukul SA., Mundhenk P., Nava-Miranda MG., Neill D., Neldner VJ., Nevenic RV., Ngugi MR., Niklaus PA., Oleksyn J., Ontikov P., Ortiz-Malavasi E., Pan Y., Paquette A., Parada-Gutierrez A., Parfenova EI., Park M., Parren M., Parthasarathy N., Peri PL., Pfautsch S., Phillips OL., Picard N., Piedade MTTF., Piotto D., Pitman NCA., Polo I., Poorter L., Poulsen AD., Pretzsch H., Ramirez Arevalo F., Restrepo-Correa Z., Rodeghiero M., Rolim SG., Roopsind A., Rovero F., Rutishauser E., Saikia P., Salas-Eljatib C., Saner P., Schall P., Schepaschenko D., Scherer-Lorenzen M., Schmid B., Schöngart J., Searle EB., Seben V., Serra-Diaz JM., Sheil D., Shvidenko AZ., Silva-Espejo JE., Silveira M., Singh J., Sist P., Slik F., Sonké B., Souza AF., Stanislaw M., Stereńczak KJ., Svenning J-C., Svoboda M., Swanepoel B., Targhetta N., Tchebakova N., Ter Steege H., Thomas R., Tikhonova E., Umunay PM., Usoltsev VA., Valencia R., Valladares F., van der Plas F., Do TV., van Nuland ME., Vasquez RM., Verbeeck H., Viana H., Vibrans AC., Vieira S., von Gadow K., Wang H-F., Watson JV., Werner GDA., Wiser SK., Wittmann F., Woell H., Wortel V., Zagt R., Zawiła-Niedźwiecki T., Zhang C., Zhao X., Zhou M., Zhu Z-X., Zo-Bi IC., Maynard DS.
Determining the drivers of non-native plant invasions is critical for managing native ecosystems and limiting the spread of invasive species1,2. Tree invasions in particular have been relatively overlooked, even though they have the potential to transform ecosystems and economies3,4. Here, leveraging global tree databases5-7, we explore how the phylogenetic and functional diversity of native tree communities, human pressure and the environment influence the establishment of non-native tree species and the subsequent invasion severity. We find that anthropogenic factors are key to predicting whether a location is invaded, but that invasion severity is underpinned by native diversity, with higher diversity predicting lower invasion severity. Temperature and precipitation emerge as strong predictors of invasion strategy, with non-native species invading successfully when they are similar to the native community in cold or dry extremes. Yet, despite the influence of these ecological forces in determining invasion strategy, we find evidence that these patterns can be obscured by human activity, with lower ecological signal in areas with higher proximity to shipping ports. Our global perspective of non-native tree invasion highlights that human drivers influence non-native tree presence, and that native phylogenetic and functional diversity have a critical role in the establishment and spread of subsequent invasions.