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Assessing current and future risks of invasion by the “green cancer” Miconia calvescens

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Abstract

Miconia calvescens D.C. appears in the list “100 of the world’s worst invasive alien species”, devised by the IUCN. It is considered the worst plant pest in Hawaii and French Polynesia. This species has also invaded the rain forest of Australia, New Caledonia and Sri Lanka, where it is extremely difficult to eradicate. To assess the susceptibility to invasion by M. calvescens in new areas, we investigated the current and future suitable areas for this aggressive invader worldwide. We also assessed the protected areas currently at risk of invasion by considering botanic gardens as a proxy for likelihood of introduction, since most successful invasions by M. calvescens originated from private or public garden escapees. Our results predict that about 7.2 % of total landmass is currently suitable for M. calvescens, with 54.8 % outside the native range including 44.5 % within tropical forests in the southern hemisphere. We identified 91 countries, 400 islands, and up to 364 protected areas with suitable environments outside of M. calvescens native range. By the 2080s, worldwide land suitable for M. calvescens is predicted to be reduced by up to half due to climate change. This decrease is mainly predicted to occur in M. calvescens native ranges as well as in countries where the presence of the species has not yet been reported. In contrast, the invaded range is predicted to slightly decrease, showing an interesting example of a double negative effect of climate change on the distribution of an invader. Our work provides information for land managers and stakeholders that can help to avert the introduction and spread of M. calvescens in their territories. We also emphasize the importance of risk assessments on the living collections of botanic gardens, as a common source of escapees of invasive plants.

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Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the helpful comments of the editor and of two anonymous reviewers. This work was performed during a stay of NGM at the Laboratoire d´Écologie Systématique et Evolution at Université Paris-Sud. NGM was funded by a postdoctoral contract and a grant for short stays abroad of the Universidad de Alcalá. CB, CL and FC were supported by a BiodivERsa Eranet grant. We are grateful to the O’ahu and Kauai Invasive Species Committees their help with the occurrence data of M. calvescens at Hawaii. NGM thanks Juan Fernández (Université Paris-Sud) for the fruitful discussions during the data analyses.

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  1. Departamento de Ciencias de la Vida, Universidad de Alcalá, Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain

    Noelia González-Muñoz

  2. Ecologie, Systématique et Evolution, UMR CNRS 8079, Université Paris-Sud, 91405, Orsay, Cedex, France

    Céline Bellard, Camille Leclerc & Franck Courchamp

  3. Délégation à la Recherche, Ministère de l’Education, de l’Enseignement Supérieur et de la Recherche, Gouvernement de Polynésie française, Papeete, French Polynesia

    Jean-Yves Meyer

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González-Muñoz, N., Bellard, C., Leclerc, C. et al. Assessing current and future risks of invasion by the “green cancer” Miconia calvescens . Biol Invasions 17, 3337–3350 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-015-0960-x

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