Abstract:

AIM To examine whether at a subcontinental-scale ecotonal areas of transition between vegetation communities are at higher risk of plant invasion. LOCATION South Africa and Lesotho. METHODS Using plant data on native and established alien species in South Africa, we examined the relationship between plant richness (native and alien) in each grid cell (quarter-degree resolution) in the study area and the distance of the grid cell to the nearest ecotone between vegetation communities. We used a residual analysis to estimate each grid cell’s relative invasibility (i.e. susceptibility to invasion) relative to its ecotone distance. We further explored the relative importance [...]

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