Invasive plant species remain one of the largest threats to ecosystems, and a major limitation to predicting and managing invasives is the lack of updated and spatially relevant species distribution data. Remote sensing has emerged as an option for providing wall-to-wall mapping of species distributions, of which the most successful approaches employed hyperspectral imagery primarily limited to airborne platforms. We explore t...

Invasive plant species present a growing ecological and economic challenge, and often adapt rapidly to their novel environments through complex demographic and evolutionary processes. Invasion genomics offers powerful tools to disentangle these processes, but most studies rely on geographically narrow sampling across native and non‐native ranges. Erigeron canadensis is a cosmopolitan weed native to North America that has succe...

Decomposition of plant litter, facilitated primarily by microbial decomposers, plays a critical role in biogeochemical cycling and ecosystem function. The rate of litter decomposition can determine its environmental impact, where accelerated decomposition alters the timing and rate of nutrient release and may promote nutrient leaching, whereas slowed decomposition can result in litter accumulation, which impacts seedling recru...

Plant invasions may alter disease vector abundance by several mechanistic pathways, including modifying microclimates that influence vector survival or changing habitats to influence host use. Here, we used a field experiment and observational data to evaluate multiple mechanistic pathways (tick survival and host abundance) by which plant invasions may alter vector‐borne disease risk using the common disease vector lone star t...

Predicting the effects of climate change on plant disease is critical for protecting ecosystems and food production. Here, we show how disease pressure responds to short‐term weather, historical climate and weather anomalies by compiling a global database (4339 plant–disease populations) of disease prevalence in both agricultural and wild plant systems. We hypothesised that weather and climate would play a larger role in disea...

Non‐native plants are typically released from specialist enemies but continue to be attacked by generalists, albeit at lower intensities. This reduced herbivory may lead to less investment in constitutive defences and greater investment in induced defences, potentially reducing defence costs. We compared herbivory on 27 non‐native and 59 native species in the field and conducted bioassays and chemical analyses on 12 pairs of n...

Ecological stress caused by climate change, invasive species and anthropogenic disturbance is driving global environmental change, but how these stressors interact to impact native species are poorly understood. We used a field experiment to test how two stressors (drought and plant invasion by Imperata cylindrica ) interacted to determine the effects of a third stressor (fire) on a foundation tree species ( Pinus palustris )....

Global change stressors such as drought and plant invasion can affect ecosystem structure and function via mediation of resource availability and plant competition outcomes. Yet, it remains uncertain how native plants respond to drought stress that co‐occurs with potentially novel resource conditions created by a nonnative invader. Further, there is likely to be temporal variation in competition outcomes between native and non...

Understanding the interactive effects of species invasions and climate change is essential for predicting future shifts in biodiversity. Because multiple stressors can interact in synergistic or antagonistic ways, it is notoriously difficult to anticipate their combined effects on species assemblages. However, some hypotheses predict that plant invasions will become increasingly problematic as climate change improves condition...

Despite the large contribution of rangeland and pasture to global soil organic carbon ( SOC ) stocks, there is considerable uncertainty about the impact of large herbivore grazing on SOC , especially for understudied subtropical grazing lands. It is well known that root system inputs are the source of most grassland SOC , but the impact of grazing on partitioning of carbon allocation to root tissue production compared to fine...

Emerging pathogens are a growing threat to human health, agriculture and the diversity of ecological communities but may also help control problematic species. Here we investigated the diversity, distribution and consequences of emerging fungal pathogens infecting an aggressive invasive grass that is rapidly colonising habitats throughout the eastern USA . We document the recent emergence and accumulation over time of diverse...

Invasive plant fecundity underlies propagule pressure and ultimately range expansion. Predicting fecundity across large spatial scales, from regions to landscapes, is critical for understanding invasion dynamics and optimizing management. However, to accurately predict fecundity and other demographic processes, improved models that scale individual plant responses to abiotic drivers across heterogeneous environments are needed...