Human land use promotes the abundance and diversity of exotic species on Caribbean islands

Global Change Biology
Wendy A M JesseJacintha Ellers

Abstract

Human land use causes major changes in species abundance and composition, yet native and exotic species can exhibit different responses to land use change. Native populations generally decline in human-impacted habitats while exotic species often benefit. In this study, we assessed the effects of human land use on exotic and native reptile diversity, including functional diversity, which relates to the range of habitat use strategies in biotic communities. We surveyed 114 reptile communities from localities that varied in habitat structure and human impact level on two Caribbean islands, and calculated species richness, overall abundance, and evenness for every plot. Functional diversity indices were calculated using published trait data, which enabled us to detect signs of trait filtering associated with impacted habitats. Our results show that environmental variation among sampling plots was explained by two Principal Component Analysis (PCA) ordination axes related to habitat structure (i.e., forest or nonforest) and human impact level (i.e., addition of man-made constructions such as roads and buildings). Several diversity indices were significantly correlated with the two PCA axes, but exotic and native species showed oppo...Continue Reading

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Citations

May 25, 2021·Ecology and Evolution·Johanna A HarveySarah A Knutie
Oct 26, 2021·Frontiers in Veterinary Science·De-Lun WuChi-Chien Kuo
Nov 25, 2021·Ecology Letters·Adrienne EtardTim Newbold

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