Abstract
Abstract Questions Does the non‐native evergreen Chinese windmill palm ( Trachycarpus fortunei ) affect native plant community and forest regeneration in deciduous forests? Are effects modulated by soil moisture? What are the implications for forest management and nature conservation? Location Broadleaved deciduous low‐elevation forests on the southern slope of the Alps across the Swiss–Italian border region. Methods We compared the native herbaceous and woody plant composition, species richness, Shannon diversity and abundance at ten deciduous forest sites on two moisture conditions (six mesic–moist sites and four mesic–dry sites). Each site consisted of three plots measuring 400 m 2 along a gradient of T. fortunei presence, ranging from “dominant”, to “present but not dominant” to “absent”. Results In mesic–moist forests with high densities of T. fortunei , species richness and Shannon diversity of native plants and recruiting woody species in the herb and shrub layers were significantly reduced compared to similar sites where T. fortunei is absent or not dominant. However, in mesic–dry forests these variables did not differ between palm‐invaded and uninvaded plots. The abundance of recruiting woody individuals did not differ between plots invaded by palms and uninvaded control plots in either forest type. Conclusions We expect detrimental consequences for plant diversity in mesic–moist alluvial forests with high T. fortunei densities and few detrimental consequences in the more widespread non‐alluvial forests. We recommend multifaceted management, including targeted eradication in alluvial forests identified as hotspots of native plant diversity, accompanied by hands‐off management of T. fortunei in non‐alluvial forests, recognizing the ongoing and inevitable “laurophyllisation”; a biome shift toward mixed‐evergreen forest that may increase ecosystem climate resilience under ongoing climatic warming.
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Claims 4
Claim · model-written summary
In mesic-moist forests with high densities of T. fortunei, species richness and Shannon diversity of native plants and recruiting woody species were significantly reduced compared with sites where T. fortunei is absent or not dominant.
- Taxon
- native plantse1
- Treatment
- high densities of T. fortuneie2
- Interactor
- T. fortunei
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Trachycarpus fortuneie1weed - Outcome
- species richness and Shannon diversitye1
- Direction
- reducede1
- Comparator
- similar sites where T. fortunei is absent or not dominante1
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
.jpg?width=500)
Verbatim
e1“species richness and Shannon diversity of native plants and recruiting woody species in the herb and shrub layers were significantly reduced compared to similar sites where T. fortunei is absent or not dominant”
e2“In mesic–moist forests with high densities of T. fortunei”
Claim · model-written summary
In mesic-dry forests, species richness and Shannon diversity of native plants did not differ between palm-invaded and uninvaded plots.
Verbatim
e1“species richness and Shannon diversity of native plants and recruiting woody species in the herb and shrub layers were significantly reduced compared to similar sites where T. fortunei is absent or not dominant”
e3“However, in mesic–dry forests these variables did not differ between palm‐invaded and uninvaded plots”
Claim · model-written summary
The abundance of recruiting woody individuals did not differ between palm-invaded and uninvaded control plots in either forest type.
Verbatim
e4“The abundance of recruiting woody individuals did not differ between plots invaded by palms and uninvaded control plots in either forest type”
Claim · model-written summary
The authors recommend multifaceted management of T. fortunei, including targeted eradication in alluvial forests that are hotspots of native plant diversity, with hands-off management in non-alluvial forests.
- Taxon
- T. fortuneiTrachycarpus fortuneie5
- Outcome
- multifaceted management, including targeted eradicatione5
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e5“We recommend multifaceted management, including targeted eradication in alluvial forests identified as hotspots of native plant diversity, accompanied by hands‐off management of T. fortunei in non‐alluvial forests”