Upper-montane plant invasions in the Hawaiian Islands: patterns and opportunities

Author:

Daehler, Curtis C.

Title:

Upper-montane plant invasions in the Hawaiian Islands: patterns and opportunities

Periodical:

Perspectives in Plant Ecology: Evolution and Systematics

Year:

2005

Volume:

7

Pages:

203-216

Subject:

Elevation gradient Weeds Montane tropical forest Subalpine forests Tropical forests

Summary:

Massive volcanoes created extreme elevation gradients in the Hawaiian Islands resulting in environments ranging from nearly tropical to alpine that are spread across a distance of only a few dozen kilometers. The extreme elevation gradients also provided specific opportunities for comparative studies on the ecology and evolution of temperate invaders while creating a unique field environment for understanding the interactions between temperate and tropical species. However, less attention has been paid to the invasions of Hawaii's upper-montane forest, sub-alpine, and alpine environments even though the Hawaiian Islands are widely recognized for opportunities to study lowland tropical forest invasions. As a result, this study combines current knowledge of plant naturalization in upper-montane environments of the islands in an effort to determine whether patterns of tropical versus temperate species invasions change with elevation, and to determine whether or not upper-montane invaders have a significant impact on native plant communities.

Label:

Botany

URL:

http://cletus.uhh.hawaii.edu:2074/10.1016/j.ppees.2005.08.002

Date:

December 2005

Collection:

Periodicals