Ecological Processes最新文献

{"title":"Peri-urban dynamics: assessing expansion patterns and influencing factors","authors":"Subrata Haldar, Uday Chatterjee, Subhasis Bhattacharya, Suman Paul, Ahmed Ali Bindajam, Javed Mallick, Hazem Ghassan Abdo","doi":"10.1186/s13717-024-00533-5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s13717-024-00533-5","url":null,"abstract":"Peri-urbanization, the expansion of large metropolitan centers into adjacent peri-urban regions, is a growing concern due to land scarcity and escalating housing costs. These zones, a blend of rural and urban features, blur the line between urban and rural areas, creating new landscapes. This study examines historical, present, and potential growth trends in the peri-urban area surrounding Durgapur Municipal Corporation (DMC). Analytical techniques and spatial metrics are used to track development intensity changes over time, including built-up density, Shannon’s entropy, Landscape expansion index, Average Weighted Mean Expansion Index, Annual Built-Up Expansion Rate, Built-Up Expansion Intensity Index, and Built-Up Expansion Difference Index. Landscape indices like Patch Density, Edge Density, Landscape Shape Index, Largest Patch Index, Ratio of Open Space, and Area Weighted Mean Patch Fractal are used to understand fragmentation, connectivity, and spatial relationships. The Logistic Regression Model (LRM) is used to identify influencing factors and CA-Markov modeling for future built-up areas. Between 1991 and 2001, built-up area in the region increased significantly, primarily due to urban development near industrial zones, roadways, and mining areas. The growth was primarily concentrated in the western sector and near National Highway-2 (NH-2). Urban sprawl was a continuous trend, with the highest built-up density in the South-South-East (SSE) direction from 1991 to 2011. Additionally, a key determinant of built-up development was the distance to the city core. By 2031, the built-up area is expected to concentrate in the western and southeast regions, reaching 177.90 km2. This expansion is attributed to urban development near industrial zones, roadways, mining areas, and other infrastructure. The study identifies distance to the city center as a significant influencing factor for built-up development. The results emphasize the need for inclusive urban planning methods prioritizing sustainable development principles and prudent resource management for future growth and efficient management in the DMC’s peri-urban area.","PeriodicalId":11419,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Processes","volume":"24 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.8,"publicationDate":"2024-08-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141944743","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Will fire-smart landscape management buffer the effects of climate and land-use changes on fire regimes?","authors":"Ângelo Sil, João C. Azevedo, Paulo M. Fernandes, João P. Honrado","doi":"10.1186/s13717-024-00535-3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s13717-024-00535-3","url":null,"abstract":"Long-term farmland abandonment has increased fuel build-up in many Euro-Mediterranean mountainous regions. The high fuel hazard in these landscapes, combined with ongoing climate change, is increasing the frequency of extreme wildfires, thus altering contemporary fire regimes. Mitigating the loss of the landscape’s capacity to regulate large and intense fires is crucial to prevent future harmful effects of fires. As such, effective strategies to manage these fire-prone landscapes are needed. Yet, further understanding of their performance under global change scenarios is required. This study assessed the effects of fire-smart management strategies on future landscape dynamics, fire regulation capacity (FRC), and fire regime in a Mediterranean fire-prone mountainous landscape in Portugal (30,650 ha) undergoing long-term land abandonment and climate change scenarios. For that, we applied the LANDIS-II model under climate change scenarios (RCP 4.5 and 8.5) and long-term farmland abandonment (2020–2050) according to three fire-smart management strategies focused on fire prevention compared with a business-as-usual (BAU) strategy based on fire suppression. Future fire activity and land dynamics resulted in changes that fostered landscape heterogeneity and fragmentation and favoured fire-adapted forests and agroforestry systems while decreasing the dominance of shrublands and croplands. FRC decreased over time, particularly under RCP 8.5 and the BAU strategy. In turn, fire-smart strategies better prevented large and intense fires than the BAU strategy, but their effectiveness decreased under RCP 8.5. The loss of FRC resulted in increased burned area and fire frequency, which predicts a shift from contemporary fire regimes but more markedly under RCP 8.5 and in the BAU strategy. Fire-smart strategies outperformed BAU in averting current fire regime intensification. Merging forest- and silvopasture-based management is the most promising approach in taming the effects of climate and farmland abandonment on future fire activity. Our study underlines that planning and management policies in fire-prone Mediterranean mountain landscapes must integrate fire-smart strategies to decrease landscape fuel hazard and buffer the impact of global change on future fire regimes.","PeriodicalId":11419,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Processes","volume":"77 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.8,"publicationDate":"2024-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141870318","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Tree-growth synchrony index, an effective indicator of historical climatic extremes","authors":"Hengfeng Jia, Jiacheng Zheng, Jing Yang, Lixin Lyu, Yuntao Dong, Ouya Fang","doi":"10.1186/s13717-024-00536-2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s13717-024-00536-2","url":null,"abstract":"Tree rings play an important role in reconstructing past climate. Growth differences among individual trees due to microclimatic conditions and local disturbances are averaged in developing tree-ring chronologies. Here, we addressed the problem of averaging by investigating growth synchrony in individual trees. We used tree-ring data of 1046 juniper trees from 32 sites on the Tibetan Plateau and 538 pine trees from 20 sites in the subtropical region of eastern China and calculated the tree-growth synchrony index (TGS). Our results showed that both the TGS index and tree-ring index could be indicators of interannual variation of climatic factors. The TGS index identified 20% more climatic extremes than tree-ring index over the last 50 years that high synchrony indicates extreme climate forcing in controlling forest growth. The TGS index can identify extreme climatic events effectively than tree-ring index. This study provides a novel perspective for climate reconstruction, especially in the realm of tree growth response to extreme climate. Our findings contribute to understanding of the spatiotemporal dynamics and the causes of historical climate extremes and provide guidance for protecting trees from climate extremes in the future.","PeriodicalId":11419,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Processes","volume":"115 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.8,"publicationDate":"2024-07-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141782992","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Machine learning applied to species occurrence and interactions: the missing link in biodiversity assessment and modelling of Antarctic plankton distribution","authors":"Marco Grillo, Stefano Schiaparelli, Tiziana Durazzano, Letterio Guglielmo, Antonia Granata, Falk Huettmann","doi":"10.1186/s13717-024-00532-6","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s13717-024-00532-6","url":null,"abstract":"Plankton is the essential ecological category that occupies the lower levels of aquatic trophic networks, representing a good indicator of environmental change. However, most studies deal with distribution of single species or taxa and do not take into account the complex of biological interactions of the real world that rule the ecological processes. This study focused on analyzing Antarctic marine phytoplankton, mesozooplankton, and microzooplankton, examining their biological interactions and co-existences. Field data yielded 1053 biological interaction values, 762 coexistence values, and 15 zero values. Six phytoplankton assemblages and six copepod species were selected based on their abundance and ecological roles. Using 23 environmental descriptors, we modelled the distribution of taxa to accurately represent their occurrences. Sampling was conducted during the 2016–2017 Italian National Antarctic Programme (PNRA) ‘P-ROSE’ project in the East Ross Sea. Machine learning techniques were applied to the occurrence data to generate 48 predictive species distribution maps (SDMs), producing 3D maps for the entire Ross Sea area. These models quantitatively predicted the occurrences of each copepod and phytoplankton assemblage, providing crucial insights into potential variations in biotic and trophic interactions, with significant implications for the management and conservation of Antarctic marine resources. The Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) results indicated the highest model efficiency, for Cyanophyta (74%) among phytoplankton assemblages and Paralabidocera antarctica (83%) among copepod communities. The SDMs revealed distinct spatial heterogeneity in the Ross Sea area, with an average Relative Index of Occurrence values of 0.28 (min: 0; max: 0.65) for phytoplankton assemblages and 0.39 (min: 0; max: 0.71) for copepods. The results of this study are essential for a science-based management for one of the world’s most pristine ecosystems and addressing potential climate-induced alterations in species interactions. Our study emphasizes the importance of considering biological interactions in planktonic studies, employing open access and machine learning for measurable and repeatable distribution modelling, and providing crucial ecological insights for informed conservation strategies in the face of environmental change.","PeriodicalId":11419,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Processes","volume":"106 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.8,"publicationDate":"2024-07-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141782991","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Elemental evolution characteristics and influencing factors of green infrastructure network in karst mountain cities: a case study of Qianzhong urban agglomeration in Southwest China","authors":"Shuang Song, Shaohan Wang, Dawei Xu, Yue Gong","doi":"10.1186/s13717-024-00530-8","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s13717-024-00530-8","url":null,"abstract":"The urban green infrastructure (GI) network is an important conduit for ecological flows and plays a crucial role in improving regional habitats, especially in karst areas that are highly ecologically fragile and sensitive. However, the existing research only focuses on the construction of GI network in karst mountain cities, and the evolution characteristics of its elements and driving mechanism are not clear, which is of great significance for guiding urban land use planning and comprehensively improving the quality of the ecological environment. In view of this, this study took Qianzhong urban agglomeration as the study area, based on multi-source data, and identified ecological sources through ecological resilience analysis. Considering the special geographic environment, the rock exposure rate factor was added to correct the resistance surface, and the minimum cumulative resistance (MCR) and gravity model were coupled to extract the GI network. The complex network topology characterization parameter was introduced to assess the spatial and temporal variations of ecological sources and corridors. Finally, the geographical detector was used to identify the dominant influencing factors and interactions of the spatial distribution of the GI network. The results showed that from 2000 to 2020, the condition of GI network elements in the study area presented a decreasing and then an increasing trend. The ecological sources or corridors in highly urbanized areas were critical for ecological flow transport and the overall structural stability of the GI network. The influence of natural factors on the spatial distribution of the GI network gradually weakened, and the influence of human factors continuously increased. The spatial distribution of the GI network was influenced by multiple factors, and the interaction between all the factors was enhanced, which gradually changed from the interaction of natural factors to the interaction of human factors during the study period. The research results will provide scientific references for the construction of an ecologically safe environment and sustainable development of karst mountain cities.","PeriodicalId":11419,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Processes","volume":"226 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.8,"publicationDate":"2024-07-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141753936","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Current trends in forestry research of Latin-America: an editorial overview of the Special Issue","authors":"Guillermo J. Martínez Pastur, Fidel A. Roig","doi":"10.1186/s13717-024-00534-4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s13717-024-00534-4","url":null,"abstract":"Mendoza city (Argentina) hosted the VIII Latin American Forestry Congress (CONFLAT) and the V Forestry Congress of Argentina (CFA) in 2023, where relevant issues were addressed, such as climate change, degradation, reforestation, management and forest industry, monitoring, environmental services, social issues, and governance, among others. The objective of this Special Issue was to present the main advances in Forestry Science for Latin-America in the context of changing governance and forest livelihoods for people. The fifteen articles emphasize the interdisciplinary nature of the forest management and conservation, and that multiple variables must be considered to achieve sustainability. The articles come from studies across Southern South-America (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Uruguay), and the collaboration of researchers of other countries (México, Canada, and Spain). Articles include research in tropical, Mediterranean and temperate Sub-Antarctic forests. Together, these articles provide a snapshot of new forestry research carried out locally and internationally to bring about beneficial ecological and environmental outcomes in a world facing the challenges of sustainable management and conservation amongst the threats and uncertainty of climate change and environmental degradation responsible for extensive loss of biodiversity and environmental services. We believe that this Special Issue will encourage more inter-disciplinary research focusing on management and conservation of forests.","PeriodicalId":11419,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Processes","volume":"50 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.8,"publicationDate":"2024-07-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141613090","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Biodiversity and aquatic ecosystems conservation in global large river basins: a synthesis of the 5th Mississippi-Yangtze International Symposium","authors":"Yushun Chen, Michael A. Eggleton, Michael J. Moore, Quinton Phelps","doi":"10.1186/s13717-024-00531-7","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s13717-024-00531-7","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The aquatic fauna of large river systems have been the cornerstones of multiple civilizations throughout human history. Today, they remain critically important as primary resources for humans as well as indicators of general ecosystem structure and function. Unfortunately, nearly all large-river systems globally are at risk from over-exploitation, pollution, large-scale development, navigation, dredging, climate change, and other threats. For instance, human stressors (such as dams, navigation, agriculture, fishing) and flooding and droughts have affected aquatic biological resources in both the Mississippi and Yangzte River basins (Chen et al. 2016). The Mississippi-Yangtze River Basin Symposium (MYRIBS) is a series of international symposia supported by American Fisheries Society (AFS) and China Society of Fisheries (CSF) dedicated to the promotion of international collaborations and communications in fisheries and aquatic sciences. Although communications and exchanges have centered primarily around the USA and China, other large-river basins have been represented and welcomed into the various symposia. From previous symposia, we have published an AFS book (Chen et al. 2016), and two journal special issues (AHS 2018; Chen and Phelps 2021). The current Mississippi-Yangtze special issue in the journal <i>Ecological Processes</i> includes a total of 13 articles in three focus areas: (1) non-native fish monitoring and assessment, (2) habitat and biodiversity under human stressors, and (3) restoration and management.</p><p>Non-native fish is a hot topic in aquatic biodiversity conservation of global large river basins. Under the global trade and other factors, non-native freshwater fishes have successfully established their populations in many of the biogeographical regions (Gozlan 2008; Bernery et al. 2022). In this issue, Bernery et al. (2024) conducted a global scale analysis on the introduction pathways of non-native fish species, and found that those with broad diets, high parental care, and multiple introduction pathways are the mostly widely introduced and established species. In the lower Mississippi River basin, Eggleton et al. (2024) compared fish assemblages in oxbow lakes before and after bigheaded carps [i.e., largely silver carp (<i>Hypophthalmichthys molitrix</i>) but also bighead carp (<i>H. nobilis</i>)] establishment and found fish indices such as richness, diversity, evenness, and dominance were greater during the post-carp period. In the Pearl River, a large subtropical river in southern China, Shuai et al. (2023) investigated the invasion impacts of Nile tilapia (<i>Oreochromis niloticus</i>) and found that the trophic position of the widely distributed and locally important economically harvested piscivorous culter fish (<i>Culter recurviceps</i>), mandarinfish (<i>Siniperca kneri</i>), and catfish (<i>Pelteobagrus fulvidraco</i>) in the invaded Dongjiang River was significantly lowered compared with the uninvaded reference","PeriodicalId":11419,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Processes","volume":"19 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.8,"publicationDate":"2024-07-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141502536","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Influence of soil properties on selenium concentration in paddy soil and rice grains in the hilly regions of southern China","authors":"Guiduo Shang, Weijun Zhou, Rui Liu, Yuzhou Zhou, Zhangqian Xu, Haojie Cui, Yixiang Cai","doi":"10.1186/s13717-024-00524-6","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s13717-024-00524-6","url":null,"abstract":"Selenium (Se) is essential for human health and is predominantly obtained from dietary sources, particularly rice in Hunan Province, a significant rice-producing region in southern China. Investigating the relationship between Se levels in paddy soil and rice grains, along with the associated influencing factors, is critical for enhancing Se-enriched food security. Analysis of 128,992 samples collected between 2019 and 2022 revealed that the soil Se concentration in Hunan exceeded the global average, with rice grains showing promising potential for Se enrichment. Various analytical methods, including statistical analyses, co-occurrence networks, and correlation heatmaps, were utilized to scrutinize the extensive dataset. Additionally, partial least squares path analysis elucidated the interactive effects of influencing factors on soil Se concentration, rice grain Se concentration, and Se bioconcentration factor (BCF). Soil parent materials significantly affected soil Se concentration, rice grain Se concentration, and Se BCF (p < 0.01). Factors such as soil cation exchange capacity, soil organic matter, slope, and soil concentrations of Cu, Mn, and Zn demonstrated positive correlations with soil Se concentration. Similarly, these factors exhibited positive associations with rice grain Se concentration. Conversely, negative correlations were observed between certain factors and Se BCF. As a result, predictive models were developed for soil Se, rice grain Se concentration, and Se BCF. This study contributes valuable insights to inform policy-making for Se-enriched food production and to ensure regional nutritional equilibrium. Caution is recommended in areas with excessive Se levels to prevent potential poisoning risks.","PeriodicalId":11419,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Processes","volume":"31 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.8,"publicationDate":"2024-06-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141502417","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Fuzzy evaluation and obstacle factors of urban ecological health changes in the Wei River Basin, northwest China","authors":"Changxue Wu, Peng Gao, Jiahui Zhou, Xinyi Fan, Ruirui Xu, Xingmin Mu","doi":"10.1186/s13717-024-00529-1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s13717-024-00529-1","url":null,"abstract":"Urban ecological health is crucial for the long-term sustainable development of watershed. Accurately evaluating the health level of the ecological environment helps to develop reasonable strategies for ecological environment restoration and resource management. This paper constructed a comprehensive evaluation index system based on the Pressure-State-Response (PSR) framework and evaluated the ecological health of eleven administrative regions in the Wei River Basin (WRB), northwest China in 1980, 2000, and 2020 using an evaluation model established by fuzzy mathematics. Further, obstacle degrees were used to quantify the contribution of pressure, state, and response modules, as well as individual indicators to ecological health. The comprehensive evaluation system constructed based on the PSR framework could effectively reflect the ecological health conditions of different regions in the WRB. During the study period, the ecological health went through a process of first deterioration and then improvement. By 2020, the ecological health of seven administrative regions reached healthy levels. The state module was the main obstacle module of the PSR framework to the ecological health of the most regions. The population density (P1), patch density of construction land (S5), comprehensive elasticity index (S8), soil erosion index (R1), and per capital GDP (R3) were the most crucial individual indicators affecting the ecological health. For different cities, the main obstacle factors varied. In economically developed cities, the limiting effect of P1 was more significant, while in economically underdeveloped cities, the limiting effect of R3 was stronger. In response to the special natural environment and socio-economic conditions of arid and semi-arid areas in the WRB, an ecological health evaluation index system suitable for the characteristics of the basin was constructed. The results indicated that, to improve the levels of urban ecological health, it is necessary to restore the natural ecological environment and control population size while accelerating economic construction. Our results can provide scientific support for the ecological health evaluation and protection of the WRB and even the arid and semi-arid areas in northwest China.","PeriodicalId":11419,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Processes","volume":"31 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.8,"publicationDate":"2024-06-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141502418","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Disentangling the invasion process of subtropical native forests of Uruguay by the exotic tree Ligustrum lucidum: establishment and dominance determinants","authors":"Alejandro Brazeiro, Juan Olivera, Alejandra Betancourt, Ignacio Lado, David Romero, Federico Haretche, Alexandra Cravino","doi":"10.1186/s13717-024-00512-w","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s13717-024-00512-w","url":null,"abstract":"What factors, processes and mechanisms regulate invasive processes and their effects? This is one of the main questions addressed by the ecology of biological invasions. Ligustrum lucidum, a tree species native to East Asia, became an aggressive invader of subtropical and temperate forests around the world. We analyzed here the L. lucidum invasion in Uruguayan forests to determine the factors controlling two stages of the invasive process, the establishment, and the dominance. Establishment was assessed by the occurrence, measured in 1525, 1 × 1 km-cells, and dominance by remotely measuring the L. lucidum coverage at the forest canopy in 5554, 1 × 1 km-cells. The occurrence and dominance were modeled using Generalized Linear Models in function of independent environmental and geographic variables. Ligustrum lucidum has become established in 13.4% of the Uruguayan forests and has dominated the forest canopy in 1.2%. Our models explained 45% and 35% of the occurrence and dominance spatial variance respectively and detected in both cases strong diffusion patterns from the S-SW region to rest of Uruguay. Occurrence increased mainly in function of urban areas, and with the proximity to towns, probably because L. lucidum trees planted in gardens are seed sources, and near railways and highways, that could function as biological corridors. Occurrence also increased in loamy soils and near rivers, suggesting moisture conditions are favorable for establishment. Dominance increased with reduced forest area, in high productive soils and at higher altitudes. Moreover, dominance increased near urban areas, roads, and railways, as well as in highly afforested landscapes, and in loamy and low-rockiness soils. The invasion of Uruguayan forests by L. lucidum is in the spread and impact stages, currently in expansion from the invasion focus on the S-SW region, where the oldest urbanizations are settled, towards the rest of the country. The geographic proximity to the invasion focus is currently the main predictor of both L. lucidum establishment and dominance. Additionally, whereas establishment is manly facilitated by human infrastructures improving propagule pressure and dispersion, dominance is enhanced in small or fragmented forest patches, in rich-nutrient soils, and at higher altitudes, suggesting ecosystem resistance is also operating.","PeriodicalId":11419,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Processes","volume":"23 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.8,"publicationDate":"2024-06-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141502502","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}