Plant transformers: how the invasive species Robinia pseudoacacia drives changes in understorey diversity and soil properties in urban forest

Anno
2018
Proponente Laura Celesti - Professore Associato
Sottosettore ERC del proponente del progetto
Componenti gruppo di ricerca
Abstract

Biological invasions are a major driver of global change and cause deleterious impacts to socio-economies, environment and biodiversity. Woody plants are among the most invasive species and are increasing in importance worldwide. Invasive trees have a great influence on the environmental conditions due to their dominance, long life and impact on abiotic factors such as light regime, litter decomposition and water availability. Some trees are thereby referred to as transformers, namely those invasive plants that change the nature of ecosystems.
One such example is the black locust (Robinia pseudacacia L.), a pioneer tree belonging to the Fabaceae family. Since its introduction from North America to Europe as an ornamental tree, this plant has been used for a wide range of purposes and has widely spread, being now rated as a highly invasive species of severe concern. Due to its ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen, black locust can substantially alter the invaded habitats, shading out present vegetation and changing soil conditions and nutrient cycles.
Despite the large amount of research on invasive trees, there is a lack of experimental data on their impacts, and the studies carried out so far on black locust in particular have produced contrasting results.
The aim of this project is to test the hypothesis that the dominance of black locust in recent secondary stands plays a major role in shaping the diversity of the understory plant groups by altering the soil and light condition. By comparing black locust and native urban forest stands across different climatic regions in Italy, we aim to highlight the main changes that have occurred in plant species diversity and the overall effect of the dominance of R. pseudoacacia on the ecosystem. The project will provide new advances on the impact of one of the major invasive trees in Europe and crucial information for prioritization, risk analysis and the implementation of the EU Regulation on invasive alien species.

ERC
LS8_2, LS8_1
Keywords:
BIODIVERSITA¿, BIOLOGIA VEGETALE APPLICATA, INTERAZIONI SUOLO-PIANTA, SELVICOLTURA ED ECOLOGIA FORESTALE, ECOLOGIA

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