Invasion risk of typical invasive alien plants in mountainous areas and their interrelationship with habitat quality: A case study of Badong County in central China.

Abstract

Invasive alien species (IASs) are a key factor in the loss of regional biodiversity, and exploring the risk of IASs and their interrelationships with biodiversity is of great significance for preventing IASs in a region and enhancing ecological quality. In this study, we used Badong County as an example and analyzed the potential distribution areas of invasive alien plants (IAPs) and habitat quality based on field survey data using models, including the MaxEnt and InVEST models. The results of this research were as follows: (1) The distribution of the four typical IAPs in Badong County was similar, and the high and medium suitability areas were basically distributed in the north-central area of Badong County, which was densely populated and had a low elevation and well-developed river and water systems. (2) The average habitat quality index in Badong County was 0.81, indicating a generally high habitat quality. Spatially, habitat quality in northern townships was significantly lower than that in southern townships. (3) Both the invasion risk of individual IAPs and the comprehensive invasion risk were spatially negatively correlated with habitat quality; areas of high habitat quality and low invasion risk had the largest proportion, followed by areas of low habitat quality and high invasion risk. (4) Competition between species may reduce the negative relationship between the comprehensive IAP invasion risk and habitat quality to a certain extent. The findings of this study can be used to anticipate the prevalence of typical IAPs in Badong County, thereby providing a foundation for preventing and controlling IASs in this region and offering a scientific reference for the study of interrelationships between IASs and biodiversity.