Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 Aug 8;15(8):e71947.
doi: 10.1002/ece3.71947. eCollection 2025 Aug.

Non-Native Woody Plant Species Show Different Leaf Functional Traits and Herbivory Levels From Native Ones in the Urban Areas of Beijing, China

Affiliations

Non-Native Woody Plant Species Show Different Leaf Functional Traits and Herbivory Levels From Native Ones in the Urban Areas of Beijing, China

Yingjie Wang et al. Ecol Evol. .

Abstract

A large number of non-native species have been introduced to urban ecosystems, and it is a distinctive feature of the urbanization process. However, it is unclear whether these non-native species have similar functional traits to native ones and are similarly integrated into the local food web. We evaluated the differences in leaf functional traits and herbivory between native and non-native species of common woody plants in 50 parks in Beijing, China. The nutrient contents, defensive traits, and levels of herbivory were measured in 2681 leaves across 138 (52 native and 86 non-native species) woody plant species. Results show that compared to native species, non-native trees showed greater potential for short-term carbon sequestration, lower nutrient contents, and chemical defense but similar levels of herbivory. Non-native shrubs had lower carbon contents and herbivory levels than native shrubs. Phylogenetic history explained much more of the variance in plant traits and herbivory than spatial variation, suggesting the high homogeneity of environments among different urban parks. Furthermore, the variation in leaf traits and herbivory of non-native species had higher uncertainty than that of native species. Our research findings indicate that compared to native species in urban ecosystems, non-native species have reduced plant-herbivore energy flow to primary consumers, which may hinder biodiversity at higher nutrient levels. In the future, urban parks should incorporate more native plant species and enhance environmental heterogeneity.

Keywords: herbivory; leaf functional traits; non‐native plants; phylogenetic history; urban ecology; urbanization.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
The study area and sampled parks. Eeach point represents a sampled urban park (n = 50).
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
(A) The phylogenetic tree of the native and non‐native species used in this study. (B) Coefficient of variation of leaf functional traits and herbivory.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Comparison of leaf functional traits and Herbivory of native and non‐native plants (mean values and 95% CIs). The significance levels were indicated by asterisks (***, p < 0.001, **, p < 0.01, *, p < 0.05). The asterisks above the horizontal lines indicate significant differences in life form. The asterisks below the horizontal lines indicate significant differences in types within the same life form. The asterisks on the left indicate significant differences between native and non‐native species.
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
The contribution of phylogenetic history and spatial variation on the variances in leaf traits and herbivory between native and non‐native species.
FIGURE 5
FIGURE 5
Correlation between the contribution of different factors (phylogenetical history and spatial variation) to the variances of leaf traits and herbivory. Colors represent the sources of variation. A 1:1 reference line was shown.

Similar articles

References

    1. Alberti, M. , Palkovacs E. P., Roches S. D., et al. 2020. “The Complexity of Urban Eco‐Evolutionary Dynamics.” Bioscience 70: 772–793.
    1. Amoatey, P. , and Sulaiman H.. 2020. “Quantifying Carbon Storage Potential of Urban Plantations and Landscapes in Muscat, Oman.” Environment, Development and Sustainability 22: 7969–7984.
    1. Baiser, B. , Olden J. D., Record S., Lockwood J. L., and McKinney M. L.. 2012. “Pattern and Process of Biotic Homogenization in the New Pangaea.” Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 279: 4772–4777. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bardgett, R. D. 2017. “Plant Trait‐Based Approaches for Interrogating Belowground Function.” Biology and Environment: Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 117B: 1–13.
    1. Barreto, J. R. , Berenguer E., Ferreira J., et al. 2021. “Assessing Invertebrate Herbivory in Human‐Modified Tropical Forest Canopies.” Ecology and Evolution 11: 4012–4022. - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources