Diversity of exotic vascular plant species on Moreton Island in subtropical Australia: increase over 100 years
Jian WangQueensland Herbarium, Department of Science, Information Technology, Innovation and the Arts, Brisbane Botanic Gardens, Mt Coot-tha Road, Toowong, Qld 4066, Australia. Email: jian.wang@dsitia.qld.gov.au
Australian Journal of Botany 62(5) 379-390 https://doi.org/10.1071/BT14032
Submitted: 21 February 2014 Accepted: 8 August 2014 Published: 24 September 2014
Abstract
There have been significant increases in the richness of exotic vascular plant species over the past century on Moreton Island, Australia. In total, 120 exotic species (including eight declared plants) in 90 genera and 42 families were collected and collated through field surveys during 2008–2010 and from the Queensland Herbarium collections. One-hundred years ago, no exotic vascular plant species were recorded. Sixteen years later, 14 exotic species in 14 genera from 11 families were collected. A half century later (1973–1975), a detailed vegetation survey recorded 66 exotic species (including five declared plants) belonging to 57 genera from 30 families. This increase coincides with a history of increasingly frequent wild fires, increasing human activities and greater presence of feral animals. The most significant increase occurred after the 1973–1975 surveys, namely an increase of 54 more species, equivalent to an 81.8% increase. These latter species included 17 (31.5%) woody species, 11 (20.4%) graminoid species and 26 (48.1%) forb species. The Sorensen similarity index (ISS) of total exotic species between the surveys of 1973–1975 and 2008–2010 was intermediate (ISS = 0.62). Index for woody species (ISS = 0.60) was also intermediate. Indices for annual graminoids (ISS = 0.53) and perennial forbs (ISS = 0.40) were all relatively low between the studies. Perennial graminoids and annual forbs had high similarity indices, namely, 0.75 and 0.72, respectively. The invasiveness of these plants was also assessed and it was shown that the ‘highly invasive’ and ‘generally invasive’ species were relatively few in number. The findings highlight the rapid increase and change in exotic vascular plant species on Moreton Island and the need for a more robust understanding of the exotic species’ dynamics of the island in order to inform weed management and native vegetation protection services.
Additional keywords: declared plants, exotic floristic, habitat disturbance, invasiveness, islands conservation, temporal changes.
References
Backhouse J (1843) Chapters 33–35. In ‘A narrative of a visit to the Australian colonies’. pp. 368–414. (Hamilton, Adams: London)Batianoff GN, Butler DW (2002) Assessment of invasive naturalized plants in south-east Queensland. Plant Protection Quarterly 17, 27–34.
Beeton RJS, Buckley KI, Jones GJ, Morgan D, Reichelt RE, Trewin D (2006) Australia state of the environment 2006, independent report to the Australian Government Minister for the Environment and Heritage, Department of the Environment and Heritage, Canberra, Commonwealth of Australia.
Bostock PD, Holland AE (Eds) (2010) ‘Census of the Queensland flora 2010.’ (Queensland Herbarium, Environmental Protection Agency: Brisbane)
Denslow JS, Space JC, Thomas PA (2009) Invasive exotic plants in the tropical Pacific islands: patterns of diversity. Biotropica 41, 162–170.
| Invasive exotic plants in the tropical Pacific islands: patterns of diversity.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Durrington LR (1977) ‘Vegetation of Moreton Island. Technical bulletin. (no 1).’ (Botany Branch, Department of Primary Industries: Brisbane)
Environmental Protection Agency (2005) ‘Regional ecosystem description database. Version 5.0.’ (Biodiversity Sciences Unit: Brisbane) Available at http://www.epa.qld.gov.au/nature_conservation/biodiversity/regional_ecosystems/[Verified 6 May 2013]
Environmental Protection Agency (2008) ‘State of the environment Queensland 2007.’ (Environmental Protection Agency, Queensland Government: Brisbane)
Ford L (2006) ‘Fire management system (Moreton Island National Park).’ (Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service, Queensland Government: Brisbane)
Geoscience Australia (2004) ‘GEODATA coast 100K, 2004.’ (Commonwealth of Australia: Canberra)
Geroscience Australia (2011) ‘Islands.’ (Australian Government) Available at http://www.ga.gov.au/education/geoscience-basics/landforms/islands.html[Verified 8 August 2013]
Hodkinson DJ, Thompson K (1997) Plant dispersal: the role of man. Journal of Applied Ecology 34, 1484–1496.
| Plant dispersal: the role of man.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Horton H (1983) ‘Islands of Moreton Bay.’ (Boolarong Publications: Spring Hill, Qld)
Horton H (1990) Moreton Island excursions 1988–1989: flora. The Queensland Naturalist 30, 46–49.
Johnson RW (1995) The aliens have landed: an account of the development of the naturalised flora of Queensland. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Queensland 105, 5–17.
Kleinschmidt HE, Johnson RW (1979) ‘Weeds of Queensland.’ (Queensland Department of Primary Industries, Queensland Government: Brisbane)
Kleinschmidt H, Holland A, Simpson P (1996) ‘Suburban weeds.’ 3rd edn. (Queensland Department of Primary Industries, Queensland Government: Brisbane)
Kreft H, Jetz W, Mutke J, Kier G, Barthlott W (2008) Global diversity of island floras from a macroecological perspective. Ecology Letters 11, 116–127.
Leithead HL, Yarlett LL, Shiflet TN (1971) ‘100 native forage grasses in 11 southern states. Agricultural handbook 389.’ (US Department of Agriculture, Forest Service: Washington, DC)
MacGillivray J (1852) ‘Narrative of the voyage of HMS Rattlesnake. 2 Vols.’ (Boone: London)
Magurran AE (2004) ‘Measuring biological diversity.’ (Blackwell Publishing: New York)
Palumbi SR (2001) Humans as the world’s greatest evolutionary force. Science 293, 1786–1790.
| Humans as the world’s greatest evolutionary force.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 1:CAS:528:DC%2BD3MXmvVSltro%3D&md5=e409dc11b78c1422e12c7684a504afa0CAS | 11546863PubMed |
Parsons WT, Cuthbertson EG (2001) ‘Noxious weeds of Australia.’ 2nd edn. (CSIRO Publishing: Melbourne)
Pielou EC (1984) ‘The interpretation of ecological data: a primer on classification and ordination.’ (Wiley: New York)
Queensland Herbarium (2014) ‘HERBRECS database system.’ (Department of Science, Information Technology, Innovation & the Arts: Brisbane)
Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (2007) ‘South East Queensland Biogeographic Region Moreton Island National Park, Cape Moreton Conservation Park and Moreton Island Recreation Area Management Plan.’ (Queensland Government: Brisbane)
Rejmánek M (2000) Invasive plants: approaches and predictions. Austral Ecology 25, 497–506.
| Invasive plants: approaches and predictions.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Sattler P, Williams R (Eds) (1999) ‘The conservation status of Queensland’s bioregional ecosystems.’ (Environmental Protection Agency: Brisbane)
Sax DF, Gaines SD (2008) Species invasions and extinction: the future of native biodiversity on islands. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA 105, 11 490–11 497.
| Species invasions and extinction: the future of native biodiversity on islands.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 1:CAS:528:DC%2BD1cXhtVSjtr%2FP&md5=e3c103d2cb649dbbce919a4b52de7c74CAS |
Sax DF, Gaines SD, Brown JH (2002) Species invasions exceed extinctions on islands worldwide: a comparative study of plants and birds. American Naturalist 160, 766–783.
| Species invasions exceed extinctions on islands worldwide: a comparative study of plants and birds.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 18707464PubMed |
Vilà M, Gimeno I (2006) Potential for higher invasiveness of the alien Oxalis pes-caprae on islands than on the mainland. Plant Ecology 183, 47–53.
| Potential for higher invasiveness of the alien Oxalis pes-caprae on islands than on the mainland.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
von Numers M, Korvenpaa T (2007) 20th century vegetation changes in an island archipelago, SW Finland. Ecography 30, 789–800.
| 20th century vegetation changes in an island archipelago, SW Finland.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Wang J, Eyre TJ, Neldner VJ, Bean T (2011) Floristic composition and diversity changes over 60 years in eastern mulga communities of south central Queensland, Australia. Biodiversity and Conservation 20, 2759–2778.
| Floristic composition and diversity changes over 60 years in eastern mulga communities of south central Queensland, Australia.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Wedd J, White CT (1908) Excursion to Bulwer, Moreton Island, 12–14 September 1908. The Queensland Naturalist 1, 70–73.
White CT (1924) Flora of Moreton Island. The Queensland Naturalist 4, 86–91.
