An initial industrial flora: A framework for botanical research in cooperation with industry for biodiversity conservation
Open Access
- 1 April 2020
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Public Library of Science (PLoS) in PLOS ONE
- Vol. 15 (4), e0230729
- https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0230729
Abstract
Humans have created an accelerating, increasingly connected, globalized economy, resulting in a more globalized, shared flora. The prevention of new, establishing species is less costly, both economically and ecologically, and is more manageable than eradicating nonnative invasive species once they are widespread and negatively impactful. We ask if international trade hubs and points-of-entry with high-volume trade, constant disturbance, and propagule rain have a higher number of nonnative species compared to surrounding areas and if they may serve as initial establishment sites and refugia of nonnative, invasive populations. Therefore, we partnered with various federal, state, and private interests to evaluate the floristic composition at the Garden City Terminal of the Port of Savannah, Georgia, USA. We conducted the following study to demonstrate the collaborative relationship-building between researchers and industry and to develop a framework for biodiversity conservation. In our study, we collected all reproductive vascular plants in the secured areas of the Garden City Terminal during four major seasonal time points over two years. The percent of nonnative species and number of nonnative plant species per hectare at this industrial location exceeded all other comparison floras. The mean coefficient of conservatism was lowest among the comparison floras, indicating a highly disturbed habitat with nonnative, weedy native, and other native species tolerant of disturbance. Our study represents one of the first inventories of an Industrialized Flora and indicates that such areas are hot-spots of nonnative plant diversity and possible sources of emergent plant invasions. We posit that industrial sites and international points-of-entry should be considered laboratories for research on species transport and introduction, adaptability, and taxonomic delineation to better understand the mechanisms and consequences of biotic homogenization due to the volume and frequency of anthropogenic activities.Funding Information
- U.S. Forest Service (15JV11330129032)
- U.S. Forest Service (15JV11330129031)
This publication has 38 references indexed in Scilit:
- Digitization of herbaria enables novel researchAmerican Journal of Botany, 2017
- Floristic response to urbanization: Filtering of the bioregional flora in Indianapolis, Indiana, USAAmerican Journal of Botany, 2017
- Old Plants, New Tricks: Phenological Research Using Herbarium SpecimensTrends in Ecology & Evolution, 2017
- Herbarium specimens reveal the footprint of climate change on flowering trends across north‐central North AmericaEcology Letters, 2013
- The first steps towards unifying concepts in invasion ecology were made one hundred years ago: revisiting the work of the Swiss botanist Albert ThellungDiversity and Distributions, 2012
- Keep collecting: accurate species distribution modelling requires more collections than previously thoughtDiversity and Distributions, 2011
- Can herbarium records be used to map alien species invasion and native species expansion over the past 100 years?Journal of Biogeography, 2009
- From Desirable Ornamental Plant to Pest to Accepted Addition to the Flora? – the Perception of an Alien Tree Species Through the CenturiesBiological Invasions, 2003
- Contributions to the Synanthropic (Adventive) Flora of the Railroads in St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.A.Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden, 1979
- Main migration routes of adventitious plants in CzechoslovakiaFolia Geobotanica et Phytotaxonomica, 1974