TY - JOUR

T1 - Spatial patterns of presence, abundance, and richness of invasive woody plants in relation to urbanization in a tropical island setting

AU - Lowry, Brenda J.

AU - Lowry, John H.

AU - Jarvis, Karl J.

AU - Keppel, Gunnar

AU - Thaman, R. Randolph

AU - Boehmer, Hans Juergen

N1 - Funding information: We are grateful to the two anonymous reviewers whose comments and recommendations have improved the quality of this paper. In addition, we thank Karuna Reddy, Statistician in the Research Office at the University of the South Pacific for his assistance with statistical analyses. We thank Sarah Pene, Lecturer at the University of the South Pacific, and Anna Tunabuna-Buli with the Secretariat of the Pacific Community in Suva, Fiji for their input on native vegetation and invasive plants of Fiji. We also express gratitude to the 10 local experts who helped narrow the focus to the target IWP species investigated in this research. This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

PY - 2020/2

Y1 - 2020/2

N2 - Tropical Pacific island countries, many of which are less-developed, are experiencing invasions of alien plant species at rates faster than areas of comparable size elsewhere. In this paper we examine the relationship between the presence, abundance, and richness of 14 invasive woody plant (IWP) species and level of urbanization and road type in the Greater Suva Urban Area (GSUA), Fiji. One hundred and fifty-four sample locations within a 29 km transect traversing urban, peri-urban and rural land sectors on local, collector and arterial roads were surveyed. We analyzed the 14 species for frequency of occurrence across the urban-rural gradient and found spatial patterns of IWP presence differed by species. We analyzed the abundance of seven species using multivariable regression and found abundance was more often influenced by urban-rural sector than road type, though road type had a significant effect for some species. We conclude by offering plausible explanations for differences attributed to modes of dispersal, introduction history and human activities. We include supplementary material providing detailed characterization of biology, ecology, and history of the 14 target species. These findings are expected to help inform risk assessments and management of IWP in other tropical urban-rural gradients, and especially small island developing states.

AB - Tropical Pacific island countries, many of which are less-developed, are experiencing invasions of alien plant species at rates faster than areas of comparable size elsewhere. In this paper we examine the relationship between the presence, abundance, and richness of 14 invasive woody plant (IWP) species and level of urbanization and road type in the Greater Suva Urban Area (GSUA), Fiji. One hundred and fifty-four sample locations within a 29 km transect traversing urban, peri-urban and rural land sectors on local, collector and arterial roads were surveyed. We analyzed the 14 species for frequency of occurrence across the urban-rural gradient and found spatial patterns of IWP presence differed by species. We analyzed the abundance of seven species using multivariable regression and found abundance was more often influenced by urban-rural sector than road type, though road type had a significant effect for some species. We conclude by offering plausible explanations for differences attributed to modes of dispersal, introduction history and human activities. We include supplementary material providing detailed characterization of biology, ecology, and history of the 14 target species. These findings are expected to help inform risk assessments and management of IWP in other tropical urban-rural gradients, and especially small island developing states.

KW - Invasive woody plants

KW - Pacific Island countries (PICs)

KW - Roadside ecology

KW - Small island developing states

KW - Tropical plant invasions

KW - Urban-Rural gradient

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85075477946&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.ufug.2019.126516

DO - 10.1016/j.ufug.2019.126516

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85075477946

VL - 48

JO - Urban Forestry and Urban Greening

JF - Urban Forestry and Urban Greening

SN - 1618-8667

M1 - 126516

ER -