Abstract
Ornamental plants constitute a major source of invasive species. Gaillardia aristata (great blanketflower) is planted worldwide and its escape has been reported in several European countries without ecological impact assessment on the invasive potential. As there is a markedly spreading population with invasive behaviour in Hungary, we aimed to reveal the distribution, impacts and traits of G. aristata . We gathered occurrence data outside the gardens in Hungary, based on literature, unpublished observations by experts and our own records. We investigated the impacts of an extended population, where the species invaded sandy old-fields within a 25 km 2 area. Here, we compared the species richness, diversity, community composition and height of invaded and uninvaded vegetation. Furthermore, we evaluated the traits potentially associated with the invasiveness of G. aristata in comparison with other herbaceous invasive species in the region. We found that G. aristata occurred mostly by casual escapes, but naturalised and invasive populations were also detected in considerable numbers. G. aristata usually appeared close to gardens and ruderal habitats, but also in semi-natural and natural grasslands and tended to spread better in sandy soils. We found lower plant species richness and Shannon diversity in the invaded sites and the invasion of G. aristata significantly influenced the composition of the plant community. The trait analyses revealed that the invasive potential of G. aristata is backed by a wide germination niche breadth, extremely long flowering period, small shoot-root ratio (large absorption and gripping surface), large seeds (longer persistence) and dispersal by epizoochory of grazing livestock (mostly by sheep), probably helping the species’ survival and spreading in the disturbed, species-poor, sandy, open habitats. These functional traits, as well as the ornamental utilisation, may act together with the aridisation of the climate and the changing land-use practices (e.g. abandoned, disturbed sites) in the success of G. aristata . We raise awareness of the rapid transition of G. aristata from ornamental plant to casual alien and then to invasive species in certain environmental conditions (i.e. sandy soils, species-poor communities, human disturbances), although it seems to be not a strong ecosystem transformer so far. Nonetheless, banning it from seed mixtures, developing eradication strategy and long-term monitoring of this species would be important to halt its spreading in time.
Abstract from the paper’s OpenAlex record; open copy licensed cc-by. Read at the source ↗
The text the model read, with the source record’s inline markup (italics, sub- and superscripts) rendered and its character entities decoded; quote offsets refer to the raw text.
Claims 8
Claim · model-written summary
Gaillardia aristata was mostly a casual escape, while naturalised and invasive populations also occurred.
- Taxon
- Gaillardia aristata
Gaillardia aristatae1 - Outcome
- casual escapes, but naturalised and invasive populationse0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“G. aristata occurred mostly by casual escapes, but naturalised and invasive populations were also detected in considerable numbers.”
e1“Gaillardia aristata (great blanketflower)”
Claim · model-written summary
Gaillardia aristata appeared near gardens and ruderal habitats, also reached grasslands, and spread better in sandy soils.
- Taxon
- Gaillardia aristataGaillardia aristatae1
- Outcome
- appeared close to gardens and ruderal habitats, but also in semi-natural and natural grasslandse0
- Qualifier
- sandy soilse0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“G. aristata usually appeared close to gardens and ruderal habitats, but also in semi-natural and natural grasslands and tended to spread better in sandy soils.”
e1“Gaillardia aristata (great blanketflower)”
Claim · model-written summary
Invaded sites had lower plant species richness and Shannon diversity.
- Taxon
- Gaillardia aristataGaillardia aristatae1
- Outcome
- plant species richness and Shannon diversitye0
- Direction
- lowere0
- Setting
- invaded sitese0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“We found lower plant species richness and Shannon diversity in the invaded sites”
e1“Gaillardia aristata (great blanketflower)”
Claim · model-written summary
Gaillardia invasion significantly altered plant community composition.
- Taxon
- Gaillardia aristataGaillardia aristatae1
- Outcome
- composition of the plant communitye0
- Qualifier
- invasion of G. aristatae0
- Setting
- invaded sitese2
Not reportedDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“the invasion of G. aristata significantly influenced the composition of the plant community.”
e1“Gaillardia aristata (great blanketflower)”
e2“in the invaded sites”
Claim · model-written summary
Wide germination niche, long flowering, small shoot-root ratio, large seeds, and livestock epizoochory were identified as traits supporting invasion.
- Taxon
- Gaillardia aristataGaillardia aristatae1
- Outcome
- invasive potential of G. aristatae0
- Qualifier
- wide germination niche breadth, extremely long flowering period, small shoot-root ratio (large absorption and gripping surface), large seeds (longer persistence) and dispersal by epizoochory of grazing livestock (mostly by sheep)e0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“the invasive potential of G. aristata is backed by a wide germination niche breadth, extremely long flowering period, small shoot-root ratio (large absorption and gripping surface), large seeds (longer persistence) and dispersal by epizoochory of grazing livestock (mostly by sheep)”
e1“Gaillardia aristata (great blanketflower)”
Claim · model-written summary
The authors suggest ornamental use, climate drying and changing land use may jointly favour Gaillardia invasion.
- Taxon
- Gaillardia aristataGaillardia aristatae1
- Outcome
- success of G. aristatae0
- Qualifier
- ornamental utilisation, may act together with the aridisation of the climate and the changing land-use practicese0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“These functional traits, as well as the ornamental utilisation, may act together with the aridisation of the climate and the changing land-use practices (e.g. abandoned, disturbed sites) in the success of G. aristata .”
e1“Gaillardia aristata (great blanketflower)”
Claim · model-written summary
The authors judge Gaillardia not yet a strong ecosystem transformer.
- Taxon
- Gaillardia aristataGaillardia aristatae1
- Outcome
- not a strong ecosystem transformer so fare0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“it seems to be not a strong ecosystem transformer so far.”
e1“Gaillardia aristata (great blanketflower)”
Claim · model-written summary
The authors recommend excluding Gaillardia from seed mixes, eradicating it and monitoring it long term.
- Taxon
- Gaillardia aristataGaillardia aristatae1
- Outcome
- banning it from seed mixtures, developing eradication strategy and long-term monitoring of this speciese0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“banning it from seed mixtures, developing eradication strategy and long-term monitoring of this species would be important to halt its spreading in time.”
e1“Gaillardia aristata (great blanketflower)”