Keywords
phytocoenotic features
invasive species
bioclimatic modelling
succession
MaxEnt algorithm
How to Cite
Abstract
This study examines the invasion dynamics of ash-leaved maple (box elder, Acer negundo L.) in the ribbon forests of Altai Krai, Russia, where it has become one of the dominant invasive species over the past thirty years. Originally introduced as an ornamental plant in the early 20th century, A. negundo has rapidly proliferated in lowland, steppe, and forest-steppe regions, significantly impacting local ecosystems. Our research analyzes the ecological and phytocoenotic conditions that facilitate A. negundo's invasion, focusing on its distribution across various ribbon pine forests in the region. Through geobotanical surveys and forest management record analysis, we reveal the species' prevalence in diverse forest types and its effects on biodiversity, tree growth, and community dynamics. Key findings indicate that A. negundo flourishes in disturbed habitats, where it aggressively competes with native flora, suppressing their growth and altering successional pathways. This leads to low-diversity communities increasingly dominated by the invasive species and highlights the exacerbating role of logging and land-use changes. Using predictive modeling techniques, we assessed habitat suitability for A. negundo across Eurasia, identifying temperature as the primary limiting factor for its distribution. The model achieved a high AUC value of 0.97, indicating strong reliability. These findings suggest a significant potential for A. negundo's range expansion throughout Altai Krai, especially in areas with reduced competition from native species. This research underscores the urgent need for effective management strategies to mitigate the effects of A. negundo in Altai Krai and similar regions.
References
Brown JL (2014). SDMtoolbox: a python-based GIS toolkit for landscape genetic, biogeographic and species distribution model analyses. Methods in Ecology and Evolution. Vol. 5 (7). P. 694–700. https://doi.org/10.1111/2041-210X.12200
Dąbrowski, M., Kwiatkowski, Z., & Dziubinska-Kisiel, M. (2021). High canopy cover of invasive Acer negundo L. affects ground vegetation taxonomic richness. Scientific Reports, 11(1), 20758. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-00123-4
Dawson TE, Ehleringer JR (1993). Gender‐specific physiology, carbon isotope discrimination, and habitat distribution in boxelder, Acer negundo. Ecology 74(3):798–815. https://doi.org/10.2307/1940807
Di Castri F (1990). On invading species and invaded ecosystems: the interplay of historical chance and biological necessity. Biological invasions in Europe and the Mediterranean Basin. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers. P. 3–16. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-1876-4_1
Diamond Mowers. (n.d.). Identifying & removing the invasive Boxelder tree. Retrieved from https://www.blog.diamondmowers.com/invasive-boxelder-tree
Dubrovin DI, Krupina DP (2020). Effect of crown density of invasive Acer negundo L. on species density and abundance of herbs in urban communities. Science, Nature and Society. P. 58–62.
Elesova NV, Terekhina TA, Ovcharova NV, Silantyeva MM (2021). Phytocenotic characteristics of forest communities that include Acer negundo L. in Kasmalinsky ribbon pine forest (Altai region). Issues of Botany in Southern Siberia and Mongolia 20(1):542–547. https://doi.org/10.14258/pbssm.2021109
Enquist BJ, Maitner BS, Smith SD. (2016). Strategies of tolerance reflected in two North American maple genomes. Nature Communications 7(1):1-12. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms13030
Forest Plan (2019–2028). Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology of the Altai Territory. Available from: https://minprirody.alregn.ru/dokument/lesnoj_plan_altajskogo_kraja_/lesnoj_plan_2019-2028_gg./ (Accessed on 1.10.2024).
GBIF.org (02 March 2022a) GBIF Occurrence Download https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.fkeytt
GBIF.org (10 March 2022b) GBIF Occurrence Download https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.ujh4k9
Gudmonas N, Gudžinskas Z (2011). Fruit variation in invasive plant species Acer negundo in Lithuania. Proceed. VI Int. Conf. Research and Conservation of Biological Diversity in Baltic Region. 28-20 April, 2011. Daugavpils, Latvia. P. 54.
Gusev AP (2016). Alien species as a cause of hindering restoration processes (on the example of the southeast of Belarus). Russian Journal of Applied Ecology 3(7):10–14.
Gusev AP, Shpilevskaya NS, Veselkin DV (2017). Effect of A. negundo L. on secondary succession in landscapes of Belarus. Bulletin of Vitsebsk State University 1(94):47–53.
Hallgren W, Beaumont L, Bowness A et al. (2016). The biodiversity and climate change virtual laboratory: where ecology meets big data. Environmental Modelling and Software 76: 182–186. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsoft.2015.10.025.
Kostina MV, Yasinskaya OI, Barabanshchikova NS, Orlyuk FA (2015). On the invasion of ash-leaved maple (Acer negundo L.) into forests near Moscow. Russian Journal of Biological Invasions 4:72–80.
Kozłowski K, Terefenko P, Piekarska-Bonkowska H (2023). Plant species richness and invasional meltdown in different parts of Acer negundo L. secondary range. Forests 14(11):2118. https://doi.org/10.3390/f14112118
Lamarque P, Guisande C, Vila M (2013). Phenotypic plasticity of an invasive tree species: implications for its success in non-native environments. Biological Invasions 15(1):55–66. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-012-0272-2
Maitner BS, Enquist BJ, Smith SD (2018). The role of species traits in determining plant community responses to climate change: insights from a trait-based approach using Acer species as a model system. Journal of Ecology 106(5):1962-1974.
Mędrzycki, P. (2011): NOBANIS – Invasive Alien Species Fact Sheet – Acer negundo. Online Database of the European Network on Invasive Alien Species – NOBANIS. Available from: https://www.nobanis.org/globalassets/speciesinfo/a/acer-negundo/acer_negundo.pdf. Date of access 04.10.2024.
Overton RP (1990). Acer negundo L. Boxelder. In: RM Burns & BH Honkala (tech. coords.). Silvics of North America. Volume 2. Hardwoods. USDA, Forest Service Agric. Handbook 654, Washington, D.C. P. 41-45
Panasenko NN (2014). Current issues of invasion biology. Invasive Biology: Current State and Prospects: workshop, Moscow, September 10–13, 2014. Moscow: MAKS Press. P. 125–130.
Pavlova GG (1963). Pine forests in the forest-steppe and steppe zones of the Ob region. Vegetation of the steppe and forest-steppe zones of Western Siberia. Publishing House of the Siberian Branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk. P. 131–163.
Phillips SJ, Anderson RP. Schapire RE (2006). Maximum entropy modeling of species geographic distributions. Ecological Modelling 190:231–259. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2005.03.026.329.
Phillips SJ, Dudik M, Shapire RE (2022). Maxent software for modeling species niches and distributions (Version 3.4.4). Available from: http://biodiversityinformatics.amnh.org/open_source/maxent/ (Accessed on 15.09.2024).
Phillips SJ, Dudik M. (2008). Modeling of species distributions with MaxEnt: new ex- tensions and a comprehensive evaluation. Ecography 31:161–175. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0906-7590.2008.5203.x.
Pyšek P, Prach K (1993). Plant invasions and the role of riparian habitats – a comparison of 4 species alien to Central Europe. J. Biogeogr 20:413–420. https://doi.org/10.2307/2845589
Rivers of Carbon. (n.d.). Guide: Managing Box elder around waterways. Available from: https://www.riversofcarbon.org.au/guide-managing-box-elder-around-waterways
Saccone P, Brun JJ, Michalet R (2010). Challenging growth–survival trade-off: a key for Acer negundo invasion in European floodplains? Canadian Journal of Forest Research 40(10):1879–1886. https://doi.org/10.1139/X10-134
Shabania F, Ahmadid M, Kumara L et al. (2020). Invasive weed species’ threats to global biodiversity: Future scenarios of changes in the number of invasive species in a changing climate. Ecological Indicators 116:106436. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2020.106436
Silantyeva MM, Ovcharova NV, Terekhina TA et al. (2021). Distribution of Acer negundo L. in the Altai Territory (Russia, Southern Siberia) and its coenotic role in pine forests. Acta Biologica Sibirica 7:63. https://doi.org/10.3897/abs.7.e62111
Stohlgren TJ, Binkley D, Chong GW et al (1999). Exotic plant species invade hot spots of native plant diversity. Ecological Monographs 69:25–46. https://doi.org/10.1890/0012-9615(1999)069[0025:EPSIHS]2.0.CO;2
Stohlgren TJ (2002). Beyond theories of plant invasions: lessons from natural landscapes. Comments of Theoretical Biology 7:355–379. https://doi.org/10.1080/08948550214858
Straigyte L, Cekstere G, Laivins M, Marozas V (2015). The spread, intensity and invasiveness of the Acer negundo L. in Riga and Kaunas. Dendrobiology 74:157-168. http://dx.doi.org/10.12657/denbio.074.016
Thakuri S, Dahal S, Shrestha D et al. (2019). Elevation-dependent warming of maximum air temperature in Nepal during 1976–2015. Atmospheric Research 228:261–269. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosres.2019.06.006
Tsandekova OL (2020). The allelopathic effect of Acer negundo L. on the growth of herbaceous plants. Bulletin of NV State University 1:15–18. https://doi.org/10.36906/2311-4444/20-1/03
USDA Forest Service. (1988). Acer negundo - Fire Effects Information System [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory. Available from: https://www.fs.usda.gov/database/feis/plants/tree/aceneg/all.html
Veselkin DV, Prokina NE (2016). Mycorrhiza formation in ash-leaved maple (Acer negundo L.) in terms of the urbanization gradient. Russian Journal of Biological Invasions 1:31–40. https://doi.org/10.1134/S2075111716020132
Veselkin DV, Rafikova OS, Ekshibarov ED (2019). Soil from thickets of invasive Acer negundo is unfavorable for the formation of mycorrhiza in native grasses. Journal of General Biology 80(3):214–225. http://dx.doi.org/10.1134/S0044459619030084
Veselkin DV, Dubrovin DI, Pustovalova LA (2021). Shading and light interception in thickets of invasive Acer negundo and Sorbaria sorbifolia. Russian Journal of Biological Invasions 4(1):30–42. https://doi.org/10.1134/S2075111721010030
Vila M, Pino J, Font X (2007). Regional assessment of plant invasions across different habitat types. Journal of Vegetation Science 18:35–42. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1654-1103.2007.tb02513.x
Ward JK, Dawson TE, Ehleringer JR (2002). Responses of Acer negundo genders to Wein K. 1931. Due Einfuhrung nordamerikanischer Geholze in Europa II. Mitteilungen der Deutschen Dendrologischen Gesellschaft 3:95–154.
Yakhnovets MN, Yurchenko EO (2019). The coenotic role of Acer negundo in forests dominated by Salix alba in the valley of Pina River (Belarus). Bulletin of Polesie State University. Natural Science Series 2:29–39.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.