Abiotic and biotic controls of non-native perennial plant success in drylands

Indexed in

Altmetrics

Analysis of institutional authors

Garcia-Gomez, MiguelAuthor

February 18, 2026

Publications

Early Access

Abiotic and biotic controls of non-native perennial plant success in drylands

Publicated to: Nature Ecology & Evolution. - 2026-02-06 (), DOI: 10.1038/s41559-025-02971-6

Authors:

Rahmanian, Soroor; Eisenhauer, Nico; Huang, Yuanyuan; Hejda, Martin; Pysek, Petr; Feilhauer, Hannes; Eldridge, David J; Gross, Nicolas; Le Bagousse-Pinguet, Yoann; Saiz, Hugo; Delgado-Baquerizo, Manuel; Berdugo, Miguel; Ochoa, Victoria; Gozalo, Beatriz; Asensio, Sergio; Guirado, Emilio; Valencia, Enrique; Garcia-Gomez, Miguel; Gaitan, Juan J; Mendoza, Betty; Plaza, Cesar; Diaz-Martinez, Paloma; Martinez-Valderrama, Jaime; Abedi, Mehdi; Ahmadian, Negar; Ahumada, Rodrigo J; Amghar, Fateh; Araujo, Thiago; Arroyo, Antonio I; Ben Salem, Farah; Blaum, Niels; Boldbat, Enkhjargal; Boldgiv, Bazartseren; Bowker, Matthew; Van Den Brink, Liesbeth; Bu, Chongfeng; Canessa, Rafaella; Castillo-Monroy, Andrea P; Castro, Helena; Castro-Quezada, Patricio; Chaieb, Ghassen; Chibani, Roukaya; Conceicao, Abel A; Davila, Yvonne C; Deak, Balazs; Donoso, David A; Dougill, Andrew; Espinosa, Carlos Ivan; Fajardo, Alex; Farzam, Mohammad; Ferrante, Daniela; Franzese, Jorgelina; Fraser, Lauchlan H; Geiger, Erika; Gonzalez, Sofia Laura; Montalvan, Elizabeth Gusman; Hering, Robert; Marais, Eugene; Hernandez Hernandez, Rosa Mary; Hernandez-Valdez, Sandra Daniela; Holzel, Norbert; Huber-Sannwald, Elisabeth; Jadan, Oswaldo; Jentsch, Anke; Kindermann, Liana; Kobel, Melanie; Le Roux, Peter C; Leder, Cintia V; Li, Xinhao; Liancourt, Pierre; Linstadter, Anja; Liu, Jushan; Louw, Michelle A; Maggs-Kolling, Gillian; Makhalanyane, Thulani P; Issa, Oumarou Malam; Manzaneda, Antonio J; Margerie, Pierre; Martin, Raphael; Mcclaran, Mitchel P; Messeder, Joao Vitor S; Mora, Juan P; Moreno, Gerardo; Munson, Seth M; Nair, Girish R; Nunes, Alice; Oliva, Gabriel; Palpurina, Salza; Peter, Guadalupe; Pueyo, Yolanda; Quiroga, Emiliano; Reed, Sasha C; Rey, Pedro J; Rodriguez, Alexandra; Rolo, Victor; Ruppert, Jan C; Salah, Ayman; Sarig, Shlomo; Singh, Brajesh K; Swemmer, Anthony; Teixido, Alberto L; Thomas, Andrew D; Tielborger, Katja; Travers, Samantha; Valko, Orsolya; Wamiti, Wanyoike; Wang, Deli; Wang, Lixin; Wardle, Glenda M; Wolff, Peter; Yahdjian, Laura; Onatibia, Gaston R; Yari, Reza; Zaady, Eli; Zhang, Yuanming; Zhou, Xiaobing; Maestre, Fernando T

[+]

Affiliations

Aberystwyth Univ, Dept Geog & Earth Sci, Aberystwyth, Wales - Author

Aix Marseille Univ, Avignon Univ, CNRS, IRD,IMBE, Aix En Provence, France - Author

Al Quds Univ, Jerusalem, Palestine - Author

Bulgarian Acad Sci, Natl Museum Nat Hist, Sofia, Bulgaria - Author

Charles Univ Prague, Fac Sci, Dept Ecol, Prague, Czech Republic - Author

Chinese Acad Sci & Minist Water Resources, Inst Soil & Water Conservat, Yangling, Peoples R China - Author

Chinese Acad Sci, Xinjiang Inst Ecol & Geog, Key Lab Ecol Safety & Sustainable Dev Arid Lands, Urumqi, Peoples R China - Author

Consejo Nacl Invest Cient & Tecn Argentina, Buenos Aires, Argentina - Author

CSIC, Lab Biodivers & Funcionamiento Ecosistem, Inst Recursos Nat & Agrobiol Sevilla, Seville, Spain - Author

Curtin Univ, ARC Training Ctr Healing Country, Dept Mol & Life Sci, Perth, WA, Australia - Author

Czech Acad Sci, Dept Invas Ecol, Inst Bot, Pruhonice, Czech Republic - Author

Estn Expt Zonas Aridas, CSIC, Almeria, Spain - Author

Ferdowsi Univ Mashhad, Fac Nat Resources & Environm, Dept Range & Watershed Management, Mashhad, Iran - Author

German Ctr Integrat Biodivers Res Halle Jena Leipz, Leipzig, Germany - Author

Gobabeb Namib Res Inst, Walvis Bay, Namibia - Author

HUN REN Ctr Ecol Res, Inst Ecol & Bot, Lendulet Seed Ecol Res Grp, Vacratot, Hungary - Author

HUN REN Ctr Ecol Res, Natl Lab Hlth Secur, Budapest, Hungary - Author

Indiana Univ Indianapolis, Dept Earth & Environm Sci, Indianapolis, IN 46202 USA - Author

Inst Ciencias Agr, CSIC, Madrid, Spain - Author

Inst Ecol & Biodivers, Nunoa, Chile - Author

Inst Fed Educ Ciencia & Tecnol Bahia, Salvador, Brazil - Author

Inst Invest Biodivers & Medioambiente, Invest Ecol Ambientes Antropizados, San Carlos De Bariloche, Argentina - Author

Inst Invest Biodivers & Medioambiente, San Carlos De Bariloche, Argentina - Author

Inst Nacl Tecnol Agr, Estn Expt Agr Catamarca, Catamarca, Argentina - Author

Inst Nacl Tecnol Agr, Estn Expt Agr Santa Cruz, Rio Gallegos, Argentina - Author

Inst Pirena Ecol, CSIC, Zaragoza, Spain - Author

Inst Potosino Invest Cient & Tecnol, San Luis Potosi, Mexico - Author

Inst Reg Arides, Lab Eremol & Combating Desertificat, Medenine, Tunisia - Author

Khorasan Razavi Agr & Nat Resources Res & Educ Ctr, Forest & Rangeland Res Dept, AREEO, Mashhad, Iran - Author

King Abdullah Univ Sci & Technol, Biol & Environm Sci & Engn Div, Environm Sci & Engn, Thuwal, Saudi Arabia - Author

Martin Luther Univ Halle Wittenberg, Inst Biol, Halle, Germany - Author

Millenium Nucleus Patagonian Limit of Life, Valdivia, Chile - Author

Minist Innovat Sci & Technol, Katif Res & Dev Ctr, Netivot, Israel - Author

Mis Biol Galicia, CSIC, Pontevedra, Spain - Author

Natl Museums Kenya, Zool Dept, Nairobi, Kenya - Author

Natl Univ Mongolia, Sch Arts & Sci, Dept Biol, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia - Author

No Arizona Univ, Ctr Ecosyst Sci & Soc, Flagstaff, AZ USA - Author

No Arizona Univ, Sch Forestry, Flagstaff, AZ USA - Author

Normandie Univ, UNIROUEN, INRAE, ECODIV, Rouen, France - Author

North West Univ, Unit Environm Sci & Management, Potchefstroom, South Africa - Author

Northeast Normal Univ, Inst Grassland Sci, Jilin Songnen Grassland Ecosyst Natl Observat & Re, Key Lab Vegetat Ecol,Minist Educ, Changchun, Peoples R China - Author

Northwest A&F Univ, Coll Soil & Water Conservat Sci & Engn, State Key Lab Soil & Water Conservat & Desertifica, Yangling, Peoples R China - Author

State Museum Nat Hist, Stuttgart, Germany - Author

Stellenbosch Univ, Fac Sci, Dept Microbiol, Stellenbosch, South Africa - Author

Tarbiat Modares Univ, Fac Nat Resources & Marine Sci, Dept Range Management, Noor, Iran - Author

Thompson Rivers Univ, Dept Nat Resource Sci, Kamloops, BC, Canada - Author

Univ Alicante, Inst Multidisciplinar Estudio Medio Ramon Margalef, Alicante, Spain - Author

Univ Arizona, Sch Nat Resources & Environm, Tucson, AZ USA - Author

Univ Autonoma Madrid, Fac Sci, Dept Agr & Food Chem, Madrid, Spain - Author

Univ Bayreuth, Disturbance Ecol & Vegetat Dynam, Bayreuth, Germany - Author

Univ Buenos Aires, Fac Agron, Catedra Ecol, Inst Invest Fisiol & Ecol Vinculadas Agr, Buenos Aires, Argentina - Author

Univ Clermont Auvergne, Unite Rech Ecosyst Prairial, INRAE, VetAgro Sup, Clermont Ferrand, France - Author

Univ Coimbra, Ctr Funct Ecol, Dept Life Sci, Associate Lab TERRA, Coimbra, Portugal - Author

Univ Complutense Madrid, Fac Biol Sci, Dept Biodivers Ecol & Evolut, Madrid, Spain - Author

Univ Concepcion, Dept Bot, ECOBIOSIS, Concepcion, Chile - Author

Univ Cuenca, Fac Ciencias Agr, Grp Ecol Forestal & Agroecosistemas, Cuenca, Ecuador - Author

Univ Estadual Feira de Santana, Dept Ciencias Biol, Feira De Santana, Brazil - Author

Univ Extremadura, Inst Dehesa Res, Forest Res Grp, Plasencia, Spain - Author

Univ Gabes, Inst Reg Arides Lab Ecosyst pastoraux & valorisat, Zrig Eddakhlania, Tunisia - Author

Univ Jaen, Dept Biol Anim Biol Vegetal & Ecol, Jaen, Spain - Author

Univ Jaen, Inst Univ Invest Olivar & Aceite Oliva, Jaen, Spain - Author

Univ las Amer, Grp Invest Ecol & Evoluc Trop EETrop, Quito, Ecuador - Author

Univ Leipzig, Inst Biol, Leipzig, Germany - Author

Univ Leipzig, Inst Earth Syst Sci & Remote Sensing, Leipzig, Germany - Author

Univ Lisbon, CHANGE Global Change & Sustainabil Inst, Fac Ciencias, Lisbon, Portugal - Author

Univ Lisbon, Fac Ciencias, cE3c Ctr Ecol Evolut & Environm Changes, Lisbon, Portugal - Author

Univ Marburg, Fac Geog, Ecol Plant Geog, Marburg, Germany - Author

Univ Mhamed Bougara de Boumerdes, Lab Biodivers Biotechnol Environm & Dev Durable, Boumerdes, Algeria - Author

Univ Munster, Inst Landscape Ecol, Munster, Germany - Author

Univ Nacl Catamarca, Fac Ciencias Agr, Catedra Manejo Pastizales Nat, Catamarca, Argentina - Author

Univ Nacl Expt Simon Rodriguez, Ctr Estudios Agroecol Trop, Inst Estudios Cient & Tecnol, Miranda, Venezuela - Author

Univ Nacl Lujan, CONICET, Lujan, Argentina - Author

Univ Nacl Patagonia Austral, Rio Gallegos, Argentina - Author

Univ Nacl Rio Negro, Sede Atlant, CEANPa, Viedma, Argentina - Author

Univ NSW, Ctr Ecosyst Sci, Sch Biol Earth & Environm Sci, Sydney, NSW, Australia - Author

Univ Paris, Sorbonne Univ, Inst Ecol & Sci Environm Paris, CNRS,INRAE,IRD,Univ Paris Est Creteil, Paris, France - Author

Univ Politecn Madrid, Dept Ingn & Morfol Terreno, Escuela Tecn Super Ingn Caminos Canales & Puertos, Madrid, Spain - Author

Univ Potsdam, Dept Biodivers Res & Systemat Bot, Potsdam, Germany - Author

Univ Potsdam, Inst Biochem & Biol, Ecol Macroecol, Potsdam, Germany - Author

Univ Potsdam, Plant Ecol & Nat Conservat, Potsdam, Germany - Author

Univ Pretoria, Dept Plant & Soil Sci, Pretoria, South Africa - Author

Univ Rey Juan Carlos, Dept Biol & Geol Fis & Quim Inorgan, Mostoles, Spain - Author

Univ Sydney, Sch Life & Environm Sci, Desert Ecol Res Grp, Sydney, NSW, Australia - Author

Univ Talca, Direcc Invest Vicerrectoria Acad, Talca, Chile - Author

Univ Talca, Inst Biol Sci, Doctoral Program Sci ment Plant Biol & Biotechnol, Talca, Chile - Author

Univ Technol Sydney, Sch Life Sci, Ultimo, NSW, Australia - Author

Univ Tecn Particular Loja, Dept Ciencias Biol, Lab Ecol Trop & Serv Ecosistem, Loja, Ecuador - Author

Univ Tubingen, Plant Ecol Grp, Tubingen, Germany - Author

Univ York, Fac Social Sci, York, England - Author

Univ Zaragoza, Inst Univ Invest Ciencias Ambientales Aragon, Escuela Politecn Super, Dept Ciencias Agr & Medio Nat, Huesca, Spain - Author

US Geol Survey, Southwest Biol Sci Ctr, Flagstaff, AZ USA - Author

US Geol Survey, Southwest Biol Sci Ctr, Moab, UT USA - Author

Virginia Tech, Dept Fish & Wildlife Conservat, Blacksburg, VA USA - Author

Western Sydney Univ, Hawkesbury Inst Environm, Penrith, NSW, Australia - Author

Wits Rural Facil, South African Environm Observat Network, Acornhoek, South Africa - Author

Abstract

Drivers of non-native plant success in drylands are poorly understood. Here we identify functional differences between dryland native and non-native perennial plants and assess how biotic, abiotic and anthropogenic factors shape the success of the latter. On the basis of plant community and functional trait data from 98 sites across 25 countries, we report a total of 41 non-native plant species at 31 sites. Non-natives tend towards faster growth strategies than natives. Non-native plant richness is higher at sites with greater grazing pressure and under environmental conditions associated with higher soil fertility, decomposition and fungal richness-conditions that tend to occur in less arid regions-and lower where native plant and herbivore richness are greater. Non-native plant cover correlates positively with grazing pressure and negatively with native plant richness. Taken together, our results suggest that non-native plant success in drylands is facilitated when high grazing pressure coincides with elevated resource availability. Such context-dependence of non-native plant success and linkages with native plant and herbivore diversity highlight the need for managing grazing and conserving biodiversity across the world's drylands.

[+]

Keywords

Community structureDiversityEcosystemsImpactsInvasionsMetaanalysisNitrogen limitationResources

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency WoS (JCR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2026, it was in position 2/200, thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Ecology. Notably, the journal is positioned above the 90th percentile.

[+]

Leadership analysis of institutional authors

This work has been carried out with international collaboration, specifically with researchers from: Algeria; Argentina; Australia; Brazil; Bulgaria; Canada; Chile; China; Czech Republic; Ecuador; France; Germany; Hungary; Iran; Israel; Kenya; Mexico; Mongolia; Namibia; Palestine; Portugal; Saudi Arabia; South African Republic; Tunisia; United Kingdom; United States of America; Venezuela.

[+]

Awards linked to the item

We dedicate this article to the loving memory of coauthor A. D. Thomas, who died during the publication of this article. We appreciate all the people who conducted field measurements and contributed to the BIODESERT dataset, as well as the landowners who provided access to the sites. The BIODESERT global survey was funded by the European Research Council (ERC grant no. 647038 (BIODESERT), awarded to F.T.M.), with additional funding from Generalitat Valenciana (grant no. CIDEGENT/2018/041). S.R. acknowledges the research fellowship provided by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (no. 346001466). S.R., N.E. and Y.H. acknowledge support from iDiv (German Research Foundation, DFG, grant no. FZT 118, 202548816) and the DFG (grant no. Ei 862/29-1; FOR 5000, 422440326). F.T.M. acknowledges support from the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) and the KAUST Climate and Livability Initiative. P.P. and M.H. were supported by EXPRO grant no. 19-28807X (Czech Science Foundation) and the long-term research development project with grant no. RVO 67985939 (Czech Academy of Sciences). E.B. and B.B. were supported by the Taylor Family-Asia Foundation Endowed Chair in Ecology and Conservation Biology. N.G. was supported by the AgreenSkills+ fellowship programme, funded by the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (grant no. FP7-609398) and by the French government IDEX-ISITE initiative grant no. 16-IDEX-0001 (CAP 20-25). K.T., L.v.d.B. and R. Canessa were supported by the DFG Priority Programme SPP-1803 'EarthShape: Earth Surface Shaping by Biota' (grant nos TI 338/14-1&2 and BA 3843/6-1). L.v.d.B. additionally acknowledges support from grant no. ANID PIA/ACT 210038. G.M.W. and Y.C.D. were supported by an Australian Research Council Discovery Project. M. Bowker was supported by the School of Forestry, Northern Arizona University. M. Berdugo was supported by a Ramon y Cajal Fellowship granted by the Spanish Ministry of Science (grant no. RyC2021-031797-I). A.N. and M.K. were supported by Fundac & atilde;o para a Ciencia e Tecnologia (https://doi.org/10.54499/CEECIND/02453/2018/CP1534/CT0001; https://doi.org/10.54499/PTDC/ASP-SIL/7743/2020; https://doi.org/10.54499/UIDB/00329/2020; https://doi.org/10.54499/LA/P/0121/2020) and by a PhD fellowship (grant no. SFRH/BD/130274/2017) and acknowledge support from the LTsER Montado platform (grant no. LTER_EU_PT_001). E.H.-S. acknowledges financial support from CONAHCYT project PRONAII 319059. A.L. and L.K. are supported by the DFG through the Collaborative Research Centre 'Future Rural Africa' (grant nos TRR228/1-3). A.L. also acknowledges support by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) through the NamTip pproject (grant nos 01LC1821A and 01LC2321A). C.B. acknowledges funding from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant nos 41971131 and U25A20826). M.F. acknowledges a grant provided by Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Iran. H.C. acknowledges support from FCT-Fundac & atilde;o para a Ciencia e Tecnologia, I.P., within the framework of project with grant no. UIDB/04004/2025 (Centre for Functional Ecology-Science for the People and the Planet). E.V. is supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (grant nos PID2022-140398NA-I00 and CNS2024-154579). C.P. acknowledges support from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (grant no. PID2020-116578RB-I00). A.F. acknowledges support from ANID PIA/BASAL FB210006 and the Millennium Science Initiative Programme (grant no. NCN2021-040). L.H. F. received funding through a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Chair in Ecosystem Reclamation. P.L. was funded by the research initiative of the Ministry of Science, Research and Arts Baden-Wurttemberg and supported by the 111 Project (grant no. D23029). P.J.R. was supported by the Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional through the FEDER Andalucia operative programme (grant no. FEDER-UJA 1261180). A.R. was supported by FCT (grant no. SFRH/BDP/108913/2015) and by the CFE research unit (grant no. UIDB/04004/2021), funded by FCT/MCTES through national funds (grant no. PIDDAC). O.V. was supported by the National Research, Development and Innovation Office within the framework of the National Laboratory for Health Security programme (grant no. RRF-2.3.1-21.2022-00006). L.W. acknowledges funding from the National Science Foundation (grant nos EAR-1554894 and DEB-2406931). L.v.d.B. and R. Canessa thank CONAF and the Comunidad Agricola Quebrada de Talca and R. Peters, A.L. Pina, R. Ledezma, E. Vidal and F. Perona for their assistance in the field. We thank R. Zeiss for suggestions in preparing the map and J. Wang for contributions to the bioinformatic analysis in the BIODESERT project. Any use of trade, firm or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the US Government.

[+]

Indexed in

Altmetrics

Analysis of institutional authors

Share

Abiotic and biotic controls of non-native perennial plant success in drylands

Affiliations

Abstract

Keywords

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

Impact and social visibility

Leadership analysis of institutional authors

Awards linked to the item