title: Multiple mechanisms underlie rapid expansion of an invasive alien plant.
abstract: • With growing concerns over serious ecological problems, a particular challenge is to reveal the complex mechanisms underlying rapid expansion of invasive species. Ageratina adenophora is of particular interest in addressing this question. • We used geographic information systems and logistic regression to identify the geographic and environmental factors contributing to the presence of A. adenophora. Join-count spatial statistics with reproduction mode examination were employed to elucidate the spatiotemporal dispersal mechanisms. • Multiple factors have significantly contributed to the rapid expansion of A. adenophora. Its biological traits, favoring dispersal by water and wind coupled with local spatiotemporally heterogeneous geography and ecology, promote invasion downstream and upstream along river valleys, while other factors associated with human activities facilitate its invasion over high mountains and across river valleys, providing new scope for progressive invasions. We further identified an unusual invasion event of A. adenophora subsequent to a great flood that amplified its dispersal ability from vegetative propagules and seeds. • These findings suggest that dynamic interactions of multiple factors in heterogeneous ecogeographical environments - a 'combinatorial' invasion mechanism - would generate an unexpected invasion rate of an alien species or a seemingly stochastic invasion event.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory for Biology of Plant Diseases and Insect Pests, Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100094, China.|State Key Laboratory of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100093, China.
authors.forename: Rui
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Information System, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
authors.forename: Jin-Feng
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100093, China.
authors.forename: Zhi-Jing
authors.initials: ZJ
authors.lastname: Qiu
authors.affiliation: College of Arts & Science of Beijing Union University, Beijing 100083, China.
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Meng
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory for Biology of Plant Diseases and Insect Pests, Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100094, China.
authors.forename: Fang-Hao
authors.initials: FH
authors.lastname: Wan
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100093, China.
authors.forename: Yin-Zheng
authors.initials: YZ
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D036603:Ageratina / Q000502:physiology*; D002681:China; D004463:Ecology; D004777:Environment; D055868:Floods; D005843:Geography; D058865:Introduced Species; D016015:Logistic Models; D011157:Population Dynamics; D012098:Reproduction / Q000502:physiology; D012639:Seeds / Q000502:physiology; D013997:Time Factors