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Nonnative tree invaders lead to declines in native tree species richness

Yunpeng Liu,Samuel M Scheiner,J. Hogan,Matthew B. Thomas,P. Soltis,Robert P. Guralnick,D. Soltis,J. Lichstein

Published 2025 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

ABSTRACT

Significance Biological invasions can profoundly alter ecosystems, yet the dynamics and impacts of invasions and their role in affecting different aspects of native communities—including species richness, phylogenetic and trait diversity, and biomass—remain unclear. Using >5 million tree measurements over recent decades across eastern US forests, we found that species richness of nonnatives increased, while that of natives decreased. Nonnative invasions affected species richness but not other dimensions of forest diversity or biomass. Nonnative invasions were associated with the loss of locally rare native species that were both functionally and phylogenetically similar to native species that survived. These results highlight the risk of native tree species loss due to invasion, although other aspects of ecosystem function may be less affected.

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