Contrasted Impacts of Yellow Flag Iris (Iris pseudacorus) on Plant Diversity in Tidal Wetlands within Its Native and Invaded Distribution Ranges

We conducted an intercontinental biogeographic survey to analyze the effects of an invasive plant species in its native and invaded ranges. Our study system included tidal wetlands colonized by Iris pseudacorus L. (yellow flag iris, Iridaceae) along salinity gradients in two estuaries in its native...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Gallego Tévar, Blanca, Grewell, Brenda J., Whitcraft, Christine R., Futrell, Joy C., Bárcenas Moreno, G., Castillo Segura, Jesús Manuel
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2022
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Sevilla (US)
Repositorio:idUS. Depósito de Investigación de la Universidad de Sevilla
OAI Identifier:oai:idus.us.es:11441/162195
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/11441/162195
https://doi.org/10.3390/d14050326
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Biodiversity
Estuary
Evenness
Guadalquivir River
Iris pseudacorus
Invasive species
Intertidal marshes
Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Estuary
Species richness
Descripción
Sumario:We conducted an intercontinental biogeographic survey to analyze the effects of an invasive plant species in its native and invaded ranges. Our study system included tidal wetlands colonized by Iris pseudacorus L. (yellow flag iris, Iridaceae) along salinity gradients in two estuaries in its native European (Guadalquivir Estuary) and invaded North American (San Francisco Bay-Delta Estuary) ranges. We hypothesized I. pseudacorus would impart more negative community-level impacts on plant species diversity in the invaded range compared to the native range. Our results show that the colonization of Iris pseudacorus has very different effects on the diversity of tidal plant communities in its native and invaded ranges. In the native range, I. pseudacorus promoted plant diversity by increasing evenness and species richness. On the contrary, I. pseudacorus greatly reduced plant diversity in the invaded range, being this reduction higher in those communities with higher species richness and diversity levels. In view of these results, urgent management practices are needed to control and eradicate I. pseudacorus from the inland Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Estuary since this invasive macrophyte is reducing plant diversity at local and landscape scales.