Ecological similarities and dissimilarities between donor and recipient regions shape global plant naturalizations

A central question in ecology is why alien species naturalize successfully in some regions but not in others. While some hypotheses suggest aliens are more likely to naturalize in environments similar to donor regions, others suggest they thrive in regions where certain characteristics are different. Using the native (i.e., donor) and recipient distributions of 11,604 naturalized alien plant species across 650 regions globally, we assess whether plants are more likely to naturalize in regions that are ecologically similar or dissimilar to their donor regions. Our results show that species are more likely to naturalize in recipient regions where climates are similar and native floras are phylogenetically similar to those of their donor regions, indicating that pre-adaptation to familiar biotic and abiotic conditions facilitates naturalization. However, naturalization is also more likely in regions with lower native flora diversity and more intense human modification than in the species' native range. Among all predictors, climate similarity and difference in native flora diversity emerge as the strongest predictors of naturalization success. In conclusion, ecological similarity in some factors but dissimilarity in others between donor and recipient regions promote the naturalization of alien plants and contribute to their uneven global distribution patterns.

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Publication Details

Journal
Nature Communications
Published
2025-11-25
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-65455-y
Primary Topic
Species Distribution and Climate Change
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

Ecological similarities and dissimilarities between donor and recipient regions shape global plant naturalizations

Marten Winter, Franz Essl, Amy J.S. Davis, Trevor S. Fristoe et al.
Nature Communications
Species Distribution and Climate Change
article

Ecological similarities and dissimilarities between donor and recipient regions shape global plant naturalizations

Marten Winter, Franz Essl, Amy J.S. Davis, Trevor S. Fristoe, Petr Pyšek, Mark van Kleunen, Jan Pergl, Patrick Weigelt, Wayne Dawson, Holger Kreft, Shuya Fan, Shaopeng Li
article en

Abstract

A central question in ecology is why alien species naturalize successfully in some regions but not in others. While some hypotheses suggest aliens are more likely to naturalize in environments similar to donor regions, others suggest they thrive in regions where certain characteristics are different. Using the native (i.e., donor) and recipient distributions of 11,604 naturalized alien plant species across 650 regions globally, we assess whether plants are more likely to naturalize in regions that are ecologically similar or dissimilar to their donor regions. Our results show that species are more likely to naturalize in recipient regions where climates are similar and native floras are phylogenetically similar to those of their donor regions, indicating that pre-adaptation to familiar biotic and abiotic conditions facilitates naturalization. However, naturalization is also more likely in regions with lower native flora diversity and more intense human modification than in the species' native range. Among all predictors, climate similarity and difference in native flora diversity emerge as the strongest predictors of naturalization success. In conclusion, ecological similarity in some factors but dissimilarity in others between donor and recipient regions promote the naturalization of alien plants and contribute to their uneven global distribution patterns.

Nature CommunicationsVol. 16(1)
University of Vienna (AT), Radboud University Nijmegen (NL), University of Liverpool (GB), University of Puerto Rico at Río Piedras (PR), University of Konstanz (DE), Charles University (CZ), German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (DE), Radboud University Medical Center (NL), Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences (NL), Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Botany (CZ), HUN-REN Centre for Ecological Research (HU), University of Göttingen (DE), Taizhou University (CN)
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, National Natural Science Foundation of China, Austrian Science Fund, Akademie Věd České Republiky, China Scholarship Council, Deutsches Zentrum für integrative Biodiversitätsforschung Halle-Jena-Leipzig
Openalex Percentile: Top 80%
Species Distribution and Climate Change
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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