Drivers of Species Distribution and Niche Dynamics for Ornamental Plants Originating at Different Latitudes

Abstract

Human activities provide migration opportunities for many ornamental plants and make them become a new potential invasion risk, threatening the local ecosystem. However, ornamental plants come from a wide range of sources, and there is still a lack of understanding on the distribution driving factors, ecological niche dynamics and invasion ability of ornamental plants based on the origin of different latitudes to evaluate their potential invasion risks. In this study, an ensemble of ecological niche model and a niche dynamic model were used to analyze the invasion potential of herbaceous and woody ornamental plants originating from different latitudes. The results showed that there were significant differences in environmental factors driving the distribution of plants originating from different latitudes, and climate-related factors were the primary driving force for each plant in the native and introduced regions. Urban land was the most influential factor in the introduced areas of most plants, potentially reflecting the importance of human activities in the distribution of ornamental plants. Additionally, only woody plants originating from mid-latitudes showed greater diffusivity than those originating in high latitudes and low latitudes, and the niche widths of all the herbaceous plants in the introduced regions nearly exceeded those in the native regions. This phenomenon was observed only in woody plants with mid-latitude origins. The niche similarity of all plant species between the introduced and native regions was high, indicating that all species in the introduced regions inherited niche characteristics from plants in the native regions.