Effects of exotic-native species relationship on naturalization and invasion of exotic plant species

Aims Darwin’s naturalization conundrum describes the paradox that the relationship of exotic species to native residents could either promote or hinder invasion success through opposing mechanisms: niche pre-adaptation or competitive interactions. Previous Darwin’s naturalization studies have showed invasion success could vary at stages, sites, and spatial and phylogenetic scales. Our objective was to assess the effects of exotic-native species relationship on invasion process of exotic plant species in China, where related research is still lacking.Methods Generalized linear mixed models were used to examine relationship between exotic-native species relationship and performance of exotic species at different spatial scale (provincial, municipal and community) and invasion stages (naturalization, dispersal and invasion). At community scale, we measured environmental factors of communities we investigated to control the effect of habitat heterogeneity among them.Important findings At the provincial and municipal scales, exotic species closely related to native flora were more likely to be naturalized and distributed, which is more consistent with the expectation of the pre-adaptation hypothesis. On the community scale, the exotic-native species relationship was not related to establishment and abundance of exotic species in the community. The results suggested that exotic species did not strongly compete with their close native relatives in communities, but were better adapted to areas where their close relatives had lived. Considering their high potential of naturalization and invasion, special attention should be paid to those exotic species that closely related to the native flora in the management of invasive species.