INVASION project: towards an integrative approach for the study of plant invasion processes on the islands of Tenerife and Gran Canaria

Abstract

The introduction of plant species by human action is currently one of the main threats against the conservation of biological diversity. When exotic species invade new territories, they significantly modify the structure of native communities and the ecosystem functioning. The mechanisms that modulate the stages of invasion are still under debate and deeply rely on exotic specific-level traits and their relationship with native communities. In this context, the Darwin Naturalization Conundrum (DNC) provides opposing hypotheses about the potential of exotic species to invade native communities. On one hand, the “naturalization hypothesis” posits that alien species far related with native species should be more likely to invade due to niche partition or niche emptiness (biotic filtering acting). On the other hand, the “pre-adaptation hypothesis” proposes that close relativeness of alien species with native communities may facilitate the establishment due to potential adaptations to similar environmental conditions (environmental filtering acting). In the INVASION project, we focus on three of the main ecosystems (laurel forest pine forest and dry shrublands) of the islands of Tenerife and Gran Canaria to study invasive processes under the framework of the DNC. Our main objective is to deepen our knowledge of the mechanisms of invasion in oceanic islands. We integrate ecological, functional, and phylogenetical approaches to explicitly test the hypotheses proposed in the DNC. Our preliminary results highlight that functional relatedness between exotic species and native community together with species richness have a role on establishment and invasion success.