03682naa a2200313 a 450000100080000000500110000800800410001902200140006002400270007410000170010124500970011826000090021550006610022452021130088565300180299865300250301665300190304165300170306065300210307765300210309865300320311970000160315170000180316770000150318570000170320070000160321770000140323377301210324710649082024-11-04 2024 bl uuuu u00u1 u #d a1100-92337 a10.1111/jvs.133062DOI1 aGUIDO, A. C. aPatterns and drivers of alien plant invasion in Uruguayan grasslands.h[electronic resource] c2024 aArticle history: Received 14 December 2023, Revised 29 June 2024, Accepted 20 August 2024. -- Correspondence: Guido, A.; Instituto de Ecología y Ciencias Ambientales, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay; email:aguido@fcien.edu.uy -- Co-ordinating Editor: Milan Chytrý. -- Funding: Instituto Nacional de Investigación Agropecuaria; Agencia Nacional de Investigación e Innovación; Comisión Sectorial de Investigación Científica. -- This article is a part of the Special Issue Biological Invasions in Plant Communities, edited by Viktoria Wagner, Marta Carboni, Kwek Yan Chong, Milan Chytrý and Anaclara Guido. -- aABSTRACT.- Question: Understanding the patterns of alien plant invasions and their underlying drivers is a key step in conserving the remaining native grasslands of Uruguay. We addressed the level of invasion by considering the four invasive alien plants of these ecosystems, Cynodon dactylon, Eragrostis plana, Senecio madagascariensis and Ulex europaeus, throughout the country. Location: Remnant native grasslands of Uruguay, constituting part of the Río de la Plata grasslands. Methods: Extensive fieldwork was carried out over five years of data collection, including hierarchically randomized observations (around 2000) nested in 137 10 × 10-km2 squares covering different geomorphological regions. For each invasive alien species, we constructed distribution maps to show their patterns; for the two most abundant, we fitted models to identify the main explanatory variables at different spatial scales. Results: We found that 77% of the squares were invaded by at least one target species. The level of invasion varied between regions and target plants. The most abundant invasive alien species were Cynodon dactylon and Senecio madagascariensis; while Eragrostis plana and Ulex europaeus were scarce. Cynodon dactylon cover was related to a set of variables at different spatial scales, including climate, topography and several local community descriptors. Senecio madagascariensis cover was positively associated with grassland fragmentation and anthropic disturbance at the landscape, and a few local descriptors. Conclusions: The large sampling effort at the country level, with a randomized design, allowed for a reliable assessment of the level of invasion of Uruguayan grasslands and its possible drivers. This is an important step in the design of policies to conserve Uruguay's remaining native grasslands. We suggest that the prevention should focus on the Basaltic Cuestas region, while control and containment should prioritize the eastern and south-central parts of the country, focusing mainly on Cynodon dactylon management. © 2024 International Association for Vegetation Science. aAlien species aBiological invasions aExotic species aInvasibility aInvasion pattern aInvasive species aRío de la Plata grasslands1 aALTESOR, A.1 aCAYSSIALS, V.1 aLEZAMA, F.1 aMELLO, A. L.1 aPARUELO, J.1 aBAEZA, S. tJournal of Vegetation Science, September/October 2024, Volume 35, Issue 5, e13306. https://doi.org/10.1111/jvs.13306