Work

Dynamic impact of alien plant invasion on plant diversity: A global meta-analysis

Year: 2026

Type: article

Study designs: Systematic Review, Meta-Analysis

Abstract: Invasive alien plants not only alter the structure and function of ecosystems but can also pose serious threats to native biodiversity. Understanding vegetation dynamics and succession across temporal gradients remains a central issue in plant ecology, yet the long-term effects of plant invasions on biodiversity lack a clear consensus. In this study, we conducted a global meta-analysis of 635 datasets drawn from 79 peer-reviewed publications to quantitatively assess the temporal impacts of invasive alien plants on plant diversity. The results indicate that alien plant invasion significantly reduced plant diversity at invaded sites (-22.57%), and diversity showed a non-significant negative trend with invasion duration (Q m = 0.89, P = 0.344). External disturbances showed a partial restorative effect: compared with invaded plots, disturbed plots had on average 13.71% higher diversity, but their diversity remained 11.07% lower than that of uninvaded plots. Subgroup analyses further revealed that climatic zone, habitat type, and disturbance type are key moderators of invasion impacts on diversity, with their effects being more pronounced under disturbance conditions. These results indicate that alien plant invasion has a significantly negative impact on plant diversity, whereas the regulatory role of invasion duration on diversity change is relatively limited. When evaluating its ecological consequences and formulating biodiversity conservation strategies, environmental background factors such as climatic zone, habitat type, and disturbance regime should be comprehensively considered. This study provides quantitative evidence for assessing the ecological impacts of plant invasions across environmental contexts and for informing biodiversity conservation.

Source: Acta Botanica Yunnanica

DOI: 10.1016/j.pld.2026.07.002