Data from: Niche dynamics of alien plant species in Mediterranean Europe

Aim: Humans have spread plants globally for millennia, inadvertently
causing ecological disruptions. However, biological invasions also provide
a unique opportunity to study the process of niche dynamics, through which
species adapt their niche when confronted with novel
environments.  Focusing on the Mediterranean basin, we assessed
1) which traits favour niche dynamics, and 2) whether niche conservatism
or niche shift promotes invasion success. Location: Mediterranean Europe
and the World.  Results: We found that niche shifts were common
(71% of species) and were mostly driven by species failing to occupy all
suitable environments of their invaded range (unfilling), regardless of
residence time. Niche unfilling and niche expansion were more important in
species with high ITV, introduced from non-mediterranean biomes (temperate
or tropical). Niche expansion was also greater for species that can
disperse further, and have bigger seeds and a narrow native niche.
Interestingly, invasion success was more correlated with a species’
ability to conserve its niche and residence time than niche
expansion.  Main conclusions: Niche shifts were better predicted
by species traits than residence time. For example, high adaptive
potential (inferred from high ITV) favoured niche shifts in general, and
long-distance dispersal favoured niche expansion. Understanding how these
traits relate to niche dynamics is important since a species' ability
to conserve and fill its niche is in turn a good predictor of invasion
success.