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Road verges as invasion corridors? A spatial hierarchical test in an arid ecosystem

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Abstract

Disturbed habitats are often swiftly colonized by alien plant species. Human inhabited areas may act as sources from which such aliens disperse, while road verges have been suggested as corridors facilitating their dispersal. We therefore hypothesized that (i) houses and urban areas are propagule sources from which aliens disperse, and that (ii) road verges act as corridors for their dispersal. We sampled presence and cover of aliens in 20 plots (6 × 25 m) per road at 5-km intervals for four roads, nested within three localities around cities (n = 240). Plots consisted of three adjacent nested transects. Houses (n = 3,349) were mapped within a 5-km radius from plots using topographical maps. Environmental processes as predictors of alien composition differed across spatial levels. At the broadest scale road-surface type, soil type, and competition from indigenous plants were the strongest predictors of alien composition. Within localities disturbance-related variables such as distance from dwellings and urban areas were associated with alien composition, but their effect differed between localities. Within roads, density and proximity of houses was related to higher alien species richness. Plot distance from urban areas, however, was not a significant predictor of alien richness or cover at any of the spatial levels, refuting the corridor hypothesis. Verges hosted but did not facilitate the spread of alien species. The scale dependence and multiplicity of mechanisms explaining alien plant communities found here highlight the importance of considering regional climatic gradients, landscape context and road-verge properties themselves when managing verges.

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Acknowledgments

This project was funded by the DST-NRF Center of Excellence for Invasion Biology. We are grateful to A. Y. van Zonneveld and H. Tulp for field assistance, to G. Pretorius for logistic support, to J. J. Kalwij for help with literature access, and to K. V. Sýkora for fruitful discussions. K.J. Esler provided valuable comment on the manuscript.

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  1. Department of Conservation Ecology and Entomology/DST-NRF Center of Excellence for Invasion Biology, Stellenbosch University, Private Bag X1, Matieland, ZA-7602, South Africa

    Jesse M. Kalwij, Suzanne J. Milton & Melodie A. McGeoch

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  1. Jesse M. Kalwij
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  2. Suzanne J. Milton
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  3. Melodie A. McGeoch
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Correspondence to Jesse M. Kalwij.

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Kalwij, J.M., Milton, S.J. & McGeoch, M.A. Road verges as invasion corridors? A spatial hierarchical test in an arid ecosystem. Landscape Ecol 23, 439–451 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-008-9201-3

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