《invasive_alien_plants_in_china_diversity_and_ecological_insights_2016_100》.pdf

Biol Invasions (2008) 10:1411–1429 DOI 10.1007/s10530-008-9216-3 ORIGINAL PAPER Invasive alien plants in China: diversity and ecological insights Ewald Weber Æ Shi-Guo Sun Æ Bo Li Received: 24 July 2007 / Accepted: 4 January 2008 / Published online: 18 January 2008 Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2008 Abstract China’s current invasive alien plant spe- in the Southeast. The ecological diversity of invasive cies were analyzed with regard to their floristic status, plants suggests wide ranging impacts which need to biological attributes and invasion status elsewhere. be assessed. Most of the 270 species identified were annuals, followed by perennial herbs. Woody perennials made Keywords Alien species Asia only about 10% of the species. The invasives were China Flora Invasive alien species comprised of 59 families, the largest being Astera- ceae, Poaceae, and Brassicaceae. The genera with most invasive species were Amaranthus , Ipomoea, and Solanum. Most of the species originated from the Introduction New World, notably from South America. About one-third of the species were serious invaders of The movement of species by man beyond natural natural habitats in countries other than China. The dispersal barriers is a still accelerating process, proportion of invasive alien plants in province floras resulting from global commerce and disturbance of ranged from 0.5 to 3.8%, absolute numbers from nine natural ecosystems. Species introductions lead to to 117 species per province. Density of invasive biological invasions, which can have profound species was correlated positively with native species impacts on the regional economy and the e